Fire in a Cup
by Kattyface
Summary: Serena Abney had been Harry Potter's best friend for as long as she could remember. But now that he's in for the biggest challenge yet, will she stick by his side? Fourth year, OC. Rated T just to be safe. Reviews are appreciated! Chapter ten is up!
1. A Rescue Mission Gone Batty

_It's been ages since I've written anything. I came across this when I was cleaning out my computer and decided to finish it. Please read and review, you know how I love it. :]_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing except my character._

**...**

**Fire in a Cup (The best dessert of all)**

**Chapter 1: A rescue mission gone batty**

_There were five minutes left in the game. Gryffindor and Ravenclaw were tied. Serena Abney watched the Quidditch field carefully with her navy eyes. One of the Ravenclaw chasers zoomed forward, tossing the quaffle towards one of the hoops, but Serena was too fast. She hit the quaffle away, a broad smile on her face. At that moment, her teammate and best friend, Harry Potter, caught the golden snitch. A loud buzzer was hit and the game was over. Harry grinned at her, waving the snitch gleefully. "YES!" Serena pumped her glove-covered fists in the air._

"_Gryffindor! Gryffindor!" the crowd chanted._

"_Serena!" a particular female voice called. "Serena, come on, it's time to wake up!"_

"Serena," the voice said again. Serena Abney felt a hand shaking her shoulder.

"Ugh, five more minutes," she grumbled. Lifting the pillow under her head, she pulled it over her face and groaned. Hermione Granger rolled her eyes and pulled a wand out of her jean pocket.

"_Lumos_!" she recited. A light lit up the end of the wooden stick. Hermione lifted Serena's pillow and shone the wand in the girl's dark blue eyes.

"UGHHHH!" Serena growled, shooting up. "I'm up, I'm up!"

"Well, c'mon!" Hermione laughed. "You were going with Mr. Weasley to pick up Harry, right?"

"Unfortunately," Serena sighed. Hermione grinned at her adopted sister and tugged her out of bed.

Serena had lived with Hermione since she was eleven years old. They'd become best friends and when Serena's parents had passed away, Hermione became the only family she had. This summer was the first they'd ever spent away from home, as this year they were staying at Ronald Weasley's Burrow. His family had invited them to the World Cup for Quidditch and neither could find it in their hearts to refuse.

"Well get dressed already," Hermione said. Serena flopped back down on her stomach, receiving a smack on the arm from Hermione. "Now!"

"What did I do to deserve this?" Serena muttered sadly.

…

"AAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!"

Harry Potter scrambled to his feet and hurried into the living room to find his relatives flattened against the wall. "What happened?" Harry exclaimed, pushing his dark hair away from his green eyes.

"What is it?" His Aunt Petunia was wailing. "What is it, Vernon?"

Harry looked over to find that his aunt was staring, terrified, at the fireplace in front of her. A horrified smile crossed his face as he realized what was happening.

"Ouch! Fred, no- go back, go back, there's been some kind of mistake- tell George not to- OUCH! Fred, no, there's no room, go back quickly and tell Ron-" a familiar voice shouted from behind the fireplace.

"Maybe Harry can hear us, Dad- maybe he'll be able to let us out-"

"FRED WEASLEY, REMOVE YOUR HAND FROM MY ARSE OR ELSE!" Harry recognized that voice as Serena's.

"It's not my fault, there's no room at all!" Fred's muffled tone said sheepishly.

"Yeah, right," Serena scoffed.

There was a loud pounding sound against the boards that had sealed the electric fireplace.

"Harry? Harry, can you hear us?"

"What is this?" Harry's Uncle Vernon snarled. "What's going on?"

"They've tried to get here by Floo powder," Harry said, fighting back a laugh. "They can travel by fire- only you're blocked the fireplace- hang on." He hurried towards the fireplace and crouched down, speaking to the boards. "Mr. Weasley? Can you hear me?"

The knocking sound stopped. Somebody inside the fireplace hissed, "Shhh!"

"Mr. Weasley, it's Harry… the fireplace has been blocked up. You won't be able to get through there."

"Damn!" Mr. Weasley grumbled. "What on earth did they want to block up the fireplace for?"

"They've got an electric fire," Harry explained.

"Really?" Mr. Weasley sounded excited. "Electric, you say? With a plug? Gracious, I must see that… Let's think… ouch, Ron!"

Harry's face lit up as he recognized Ronald Weasley's voice join the rest of them. "What are we doing here? Has something gone wrong?"

"Oh no, Ron," Fred growled sarcastically. "NO, this is exactly where we wanted to end up."

"Yeah, we're having the time of our lives here," George said in a muffled tone, as though he were pressed against the wall.

"We all know Fred is," Serena grumbled. "Will you move your hand already?"

"I'm trying!" Fred replied. Harry could almost hear his grin.

"Boys, Serena," Mr. Weasley groaned. "I'm trying to think what to do… Ah yes, it's the only way. Stand back, Harry."

Harry complied, hurrying back to the sofa. "Wait a moment!" Vernon bellowed. "What exactly are you going to-"

BANG.

Harry couldn't see exactly what happened after that. There was a large burst of smoke and thumping noises, as though something was hitting the rug in front of the fireplace. When the dust cleared out he caught sight of four familiar redheads, all covered in freckles and coughing loudly. A fifth figure came into view, brushing the grey dust off of her skirt as she did.

"I just bought this," she pouted. Harry grinned at the beautiful blonde in front of him. "Harry!" she squealed suddenly, running forward. Mr. Weasley stammered as he tried to explain what had happened to the Dursleys, who looked as though they hadn't processed as ingle word.

"It's good to see you, Serena," Harry sighed as he returned his best friend's embrace.

"Hello, Harry!" Mr. Weasley called out, turning away from the Dursleys. "Got your trunk ready?"

"It's upstairs," Harry answered with a grin.

"We'll get it," Fred replied at once. Winking at Harry, he and George left the room. Harry knew they were hoping to see Dudley; Harry had told them loads about him

At that moment Dudley came running into the room, holding his buttocks firmly. Harry held back a laugh, remembering the first time Dudley had met another wizard. It had been Hagrid, who had grown so irritated with the boy that he'd given him a pig's tail. "Ah, this is your cousin, is it, Harry?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"Yep," Harry replied. "That's Dudley." He, Ron, and Serena exchanged glances before looking down at the floor. None of them could hide the smile that was making its way onto their faces.

"Having a good holiday, Dudley?" Mr. Weasley asked kindly, obviously startled by Dudley's strange behavior. Dudley let out a whimper and his hands tightened over his massive backside.

Fred and George reappeared, each holding an end of Harry's trunk. When they spotted Dudley, each of their faces broke into identical, evil grins.

"All right," Mr. Weasley clapped his hands. "Better get cracking, then. _Incendio_!" Flames crackled in the electric fireplace as though they'd been there for hours. Mr. Weasley took a small drawstring bag from his pocket, untied it, took a pinch of the powder inside, and threw it onto the flames, which turned emerald green and roared higher than ever. "Off you go then, Fred,"

"Coming," Fred replied. "Oh no- hang on-"

A bag of candies fell out of Fred's pockets and scattered onto the floor. He hurried forward and picked them up, lifting his head to wink at Harry. With a shout of, "The Burrow!" Fred stepped into the fire and vanished.

"Right then, George," Mr. Weasley turned to the other twin. "You and the trunk."

Harry helped George carry the trunk into the emerald-tinted fire. "The Burrow!" George called. And just as Fred had, he vanished.

"Ron, you next," Mr. Weasley directed. "Serena, go with him."

"Aye, captain." Serena saluted him. Winking at Harry, she tugged Ron's arm.

"See you around!" Ron smiled brightly at the Dursleys before stepping into the fire with Serena. At once, the two shouted, "The Burrow!" and disappeared.

…

"I saw what you did," Serena snapped at Fred when she and Ron entered the Weasleys' tiny home, referring to the Ton-Tongue Toffee the twins had left on the floor. "What if that fat little pig eats it?"

"Shhh!" Fred clamped a hand over her mouth. "That's the point. Serena rolled her eyes.

About ten minutes later, Harry stepped out of the green fire. "Did he eat it?" Fred asked, his eyes twinkling with excitement.

"Yeah," Harry laughed. "What _was_ it?"

"Ton-Tongue Toffee," Fred answered. "George and I invented them, and we've been looking for someone to test them on all summer…" Everyone in the kitchen erupted in laughter. Serena, on the other hand, scowled.

"You guys," she exclaimed. "This is serious. What if he's hurt?" Fred let out a sigh and draped an arm around the girl's tan shoulders.

"You think it's funny too. Admit it." he grinned. She rolled her eyes and tried to shrug his arm off, but he didn't budge. Harry and Ron shared a knowing smile. She stomped her foot before storming off with a huff of, "Males!"


	2. Quidditch

_Thank you to All The Pretty Horses for correcting me in my last chapter. I had Hermione use "Alohamora" instead of "Lumos". But this is fixed now. Sorry for the mistake. Thank you all for reading, and please leave reviews._

_Disclaimer: All I own is Serena. Everything else belongs to J.K. Rowling._

**...**

**Chapter 2: Quidditch**

"ONE OF THEIR FAKE WANDS AGAIN!" Serena heard Mrs. Weasley shout from the kitchen. "How many times have I told them NOT to leave them lying around?" Serena nudged Harry and Ron in the sides and giggled under her breath.

"C'mon," Ron nodded at his two friends. "Let's go help Bill and Charlie." Serena smiled. Bill and Charlie were two of Ron's older brothers. They had already graduated from Hogwarts, but she still loved talking to them. They were hilarious but intelligent, like the rest of the Weasleys. Well… _most_ of them.

They left the sitting room and headed out the back door into the yard. Before they gone far, a loud crashing sound came from the other end of the yard. Bill and Charlie were standing with their wands out, sending two old tables flying across the yard. Charlie swished his wand and sent his table forward. Fred and George were cheering loudly as Ginny rolled on the ground, laughing hard.

Serena laughed hysterically as Bill's table caught Charlie's with a huge bang. One of the legs fell off and towards the ground, narrowly missing Hermione's ginger-colored cat, Crookshanks. There was a loud shout from above their heads and the group looked up to find that Percy was peering down at them from his bedroom window, holding his hands on his hips.

"WILL YOU KEEP IT DOWN?!" he yelled.

"Sorry, Perce," Bill grinned. "How're the cauldron bottoms coming on?"

"Very badly," Percy muttered before slamming his window shut. Bill and Charlie lowered the tables to the ground with their wands. With a flick of his wand, Charlie pulled two table cloths out of thin air and laid them across the table, hiding the scratches the fight had caused.

When dinnertime rolled around the Weasleys, Harry, Hermione and Serena finally relaxed outside by the two tables, surrounded by plates of Mrs. Weasley's cooking. Serena, who felt famished, dug into the chicken and salad. She stayed quiet, listening to the lively conversation between Fred, George and Charlie.

"It's got to be Ireland," Charlie said between bites of potato. "They flattened Peru in the semifinals."

"Bulgaria's got Viktor Krum, though," Fred reminded him.

"Krum's one decent player, Ireland's got seven," Charlie replied shortly. "I wish England had gotten through. Embarrassing, that was."

"What happened?" Harry asked, setting down his fork.

"Went down to Transylvania, three hundred and ninety to ten," Charlie mumbled. "Shocking performance. And Wales lost to Uganda, and Scotland was slaughtered by Luxembourg."

"Easy there, Charlie," Serena chuckled, patting the older boy on the back.

"It's a disgrace," he groaned, dropping his head. Serena giggled and turned towards Harry.

"So," she asked softly. "Have you heard from Sirius lately?"

"Yeah," Harry said quietly. Hermione and Ron leaned closer to hear what he was saying. "Twice. He sounds okay. I wrote to him yesterday… he might write back while I'm here."

"Look at the time," Mrs. Weasley cut in. "You should really be in bed, the whole lot of you- you'll be up at the crack of dawn to get to the Cup. Harry, Serena, if you'll leave your school list out, I'll get your things for you tomorrow in Diagon Alley. I'm getting everyone else's. There might not be time after the World Cup; the match went on for five days last time."

"Wow. I hope it does this time!" Harry laughed.

"Well, I certainly don't," Percy snarled. "I shudder to think what the state of my in-tray would be if I was away from work for five days."

"Yeah, someone might slip dragon dung in it again, eh, Perce?" Fred tossed an arm around his brother's shoulder.

"That was a sample of fertilizer from Norway!" Percy grumbled, shrugging Fred off. "It was nothing _personal_!"

"It was," Fred whispered into Serena's ear as Percy stormed off. "We sent it."

…

Serena awoke the next morning to the sound of Hermione's voice. "Serena," her friend called. Serena sat up and rubbed her eyes groggily.

"This feels like Déjà vu," she grumbled.

"Come on," Hermione urged. "Let's go and wake up the boys."

Serena bolted upwards and got dressed. She, Hermione, and Ginny giggled softly as they strolled into the room where Ron, Harry, Fred, and George were sleeping. Serena walked towards the bed where Harry lay and gently shook his shoulder. "Harry," she whispered. Harry's green eyes shot open.

"Serena?" he muttered, obviously bewildered.

"Time to go," she smiled, handing him his glasses. With that, she pranced over to Fred's bed. After several attempts of shaking him awake, Serena pounced onto his back. "Oi!" she snapped. "Wake up, you!" Startled by the sudden weight, Fred shot up, nearly tossing Serena off of his back.

"S'time already?" he asked groggily. Serena nodded and reached forward to brush a few strands of red hair out of the corner of his mouth.

"Get up, you lot," Hermione called over her shoulder as she, Serena and Ginny headed out the door. Serena snickered when they were out of earshot, mimicking Fred.

"S'time already?" she questioned, sticking her tongue through her teeth like an electric-shock patient. Her friends cackled in response. Serena grinned and turned to go down the stairs, but was stopped by a black mass of feathers. "Eeeek!" She shrieked out loud, covering her face with her hands. After a few moments, she decided it was safe and peeked through her fingers…

…To find her black owl, Lana, perched on her shoulder. The bird hooted happily. "Oh, hey, Lana!" Serena smiled. Noticing the letter on her owl's foot, Serena reached forward and untied it. "Anyone have an owl treat?"

"I do," Ginny offered. She pulled a biscuit out of her pocket. Serena nodded her thanks and fed Lana the treat.

"Okay, you," she tapped her bird on the beak. "I'm going to be off for a few days. Stay around the Burrow, and I'll be back soon. Kay?" Lana cooed and nipped Serena's finger _affectionately_ before flying out an open window.

Serena, eyes narrowed, slowly opened the letter that had been attached to her owl. "No way," she breathed when she'd read it at least a dozen times.

"What is it?" Ginny questioned. Serena quickly handed it to her friends, unable to speak her mind. It read:

Serena,

It's been all summer, but I heard you were going to the World Cup with the Weasley family. That would be positively wonderful, because my dad and I are meeting them at the Portkey to go. Well, I was hoping perhaps you'd like to catch up once we got there, maybe talk on our own for a bit? Well, erm, see you there.

Cedric Diggory

P.S. I heard a rumor you helped save that hippogriff last year.

Slightly illegal, but that's really great of you. 

"How did he find out about Buckbeak?" Hermione screeched.

"He practically admitted to liking you!" Ginny squealed, ignoring Hermione's outburst

"He's **is **pretty cute," Serena sighed thoughtfully.

"This is serious!" Hermione growled, stomping her foot.

"C'mon, 'Mione, lighten up." Serena threw an arm around her friend's broad shoulders. "Even if someone does think we did it, they can't prove it."

"I guess," Hermione murmured, still frowning. The three headed downstairs and flopped down on the couch in a tired heap.

"Why do we have to be up so early?" Ginny grumbled. Serena dropped her blonde head to her friend's shoulder, closing her eyes.

"We have a bit of a walk ahead of us," Mr. Weasley chuckled.

"Walk?" Harry's voice cried out. Serena opened one blue eye and found him standing a few feet away at the kitchen table. "We're walking to the World Cup?"

"No, no, that's miles away," Mr. Weasley chuckled. "We're only to walk a short way. See, it's difficult for a large number of wizards to be transported anywhere without muggles noticing. Some use public transportation, but only a small number can do that without-"

"George Weasley!" Mrs. Weasley interrupted sharply. The entire room went still.

"What?" George replied innocently.

"What have you got in your pocket?"

"Nothing!"

"Don't you lie to me!" Mrs. Weasley fished out her wand and pointed it at George's pants. "_Accio_!"

Within the next moment dozens of brightly-colored candy flew out of George's pockets and into Mrs. Weasley's palm.

"We told you to destroy them!" Mr. Weasley roared. Serena turned her head to hide the laugh she could no longer keep in.

"We spent all summer developing those!" she heard Fred shout.

"Oh, a fine way to spend half a year!" Mrs. Weasley screeched. "No wonder you didn't get more O.W.L.s!"

After that, Mrs. Weasley said her goodbyes. When she had hugged each of them in turn and they were on their way, she called, "I'll send Bill, Percy, and Charlie along around noon."

Once Mrs. Weasley's back was turned, Serena held up her wand and whispered, "Accio!" Forty of the toffees flew into her palm. Grinning, she ran up to Fred and George and placed twenty in each of their hands. "Happy Christmas," she giggled before hurrying off to her friends. Fred and George grinned and threw the candies in their backpacks.

"She's quite alright, that Serena," George chuckled.

"Have I mentioned that I love you?" Fred called after the blonde. She grinned over her shoulder. George snorted once her back was turned once more.

"At least fifty times a day," he grumbled under his breath. "Ow!" Fred had responded by punching him on the arm. "OwCH!" Twice.

…

"Whew," Mr. Weasley panted, resting his hands on his knees. "Well, we've made good time- we've got ten minutes. Now we just need the Portkey."

"Over hear, Arthur!" a voice shouted before they could begin their search. "Over here, son, we've got it!"

"Amos!" Mr. Weasley smiled, hurrying over to the man who had shouted. Serena grabbed Hermione's arm as she spotted the familiar boy next to the man. "Everyone, this is Amos Diggory. He works in the Department of Magical Mysteries. And you all know his son, Cedric."

"Hey," Cedric smiled. Everyone exchanged a welcome with Cedric except for Fred and George, who opted for a quick nod. Serena rolled her eyes. Obviously the twins still hadn't forgiven Hufflepuff, Cedric's house, for beating them in Quidditch the previous year.

"Good lord!" Mr. Diggory suddenly exclaimed. Serena turned to find that the older Diggory was staring at Harry as though he'd seen a ghost. "You must be Harry Potter!"

"Yes, sir," Harry said quietly. Serena smiled sympathetically. Poor Harry was used to people making a fuss over him, but that didn't mean he enjoyed it.

"Wonderful to meet you, son," Amos shook Harry's hand rapidly. "Well, almost time!" Mr. Diggory set down the muddy boot he was holding in his free hand. Serena assumed it was the Portkey. Deciding to use the distraction to look at Cedric, she glanced in his direction to find that he was staring right back. He'd become extremely handsome; his golden brown hair had grown shaggy, but in a cute way, and his grey eyes were bright.

"Hey," he mouthed with a smile. Serena couldn't help but smile back.

"Hey," she replied.

"Alright, everyone touch the Portkey," Mr. Diggory broke through her trance. "Just a finger will do." Serena kneeled down and touched the muddy boot carefully.

"What does this do?" she hissed.

"I dunno," Harry murmured. "But I'm not sure I'll like it."

"Three, two…" Mr. Weasley counted down. "One!"

It happened very quickly. Serena didn't know much aside from the fact that she was in the air, swirling, flying, falling upwards, and then-

She landed on her feet with a thud. "Look out!" Harry shouted.

"Where-" Serena was cut off when a figure slammed into her, knocking her to the ground. Fred came next, landing on top of Serena without a single warning. Ginny and Ron came crashing down as well, narrowly missing Harry's face.

Only Mr. Weasley, Mr. Diggory, and Cedric had landed on their feet. "Ow," Serena whimpered. "Harry? Fred?"

"Yep?" Fred mumbled into her back.

"GET OFFA ME!" Serena shoved him. As she detangled herself from her friends, she noticed a hand in her face. Smiling shyly, she took it and stood to face Cedric.

"Did you get my letter?" he grinned.

"Uh, yeah," she glanced down to hide her burning cheeks. She didn't know what to say, so she backed away…

…And crashed directly into Ron.

"Whoa!" Cedric exclaimed. Ron grabbed her shoulders.

"You okay?" he questioned.

"Just kind of dizzy," Serena replied warily. Cedric reached forward and kept a firm grip around her as they made their way forward. The group had arrived on what appeared to be a deserted moor. A few feet away were two grumpy-looking men in ridiculous outfits. Serena didn't pay attention to anything they said. All she could think about was the blinding pain in her stomach. "I'm okay now," she lied before stepping away from Cedric. But she hadn't moved more than a few feet away when she swayed directly into Fred. Her knees buckled and she fell to the ground, watching in horror as her breakfast came back up.

"Serena!" Fred exclaimed, jumping out of the way. The group had gone quiet and everyone was staring at her.

"Is she alright?" Ron asked urgently.

"Serena?" Harry tried.

"She said she was feeling dizzy earlier," Cedric told them. Mr. Weasley immediately kneeled at her side.

"You okay, Serena?" he questioned. Serena didn't dare to open her mouth again. "Fred, you stay with her. I'll go check into the campgrounds, and we'll come back and get you two in a moment."

"I'll stay, too," Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Cedric all offered at once. Mr. Weasley shook his head and climbed back to his feet.

"No use in overwhelming her," he insisted. "Probably just dizzy from the Portkey. Come on." He motioned for the rest of the group to follow. Serena felt her stomach heave again. This time, Fred kneeled beside her and held her long blonde hair back from her face. He rubbed her back in gentle circles and winced as she began to cough. She began to lose her balance again, but this time he pulled her upright into a sitting position.

"Thanks," Serena managed. Fred quickly pulled a bottle of water out of his backpack and handed it over. She opened it, swished a bit of water around in her mouth, and spat it back out on the ground. "Ugh," she groaned. "I puked on you, didn't I?" She sounded so quiet and looked so pathetic at that one moment, Fred almost felt himself get emotional.

Almost.

"Just a little on the shoe," he chuckled. Serena winced. "It's okay, really. Just… don't turn that shade of green again. Scared the bloody hell out of me." Her head fell against his shoulder.

"I'm so sorry," she muttered. Fred smiled and gave her shoulders a light squeeze. "Know what?" She glanced up, her light green eyes meeting his dark grey ones. A very tiny smile lit up her face. "You're not as horrid as everyone thinks."

"I s'pose," Fred shrugged. "But don't go around telling everyone. You'll ruin my reputation." Serena smiled slightly-

Before puking again.

Fred let out a sigh and went back to rubbing her back.

By the time Mr. Weasley had returned it, Serena's face had returned to a normal color and her stomach no longer hurt. But that didn't stop Harry and Ron from each putting an arm around her shoulders while Hermione opted to place a hand on her back. It was a difficult way to walk, but her friends insisted.

And Serena wouldn't have wanted it any other way.


	3. Figg Newtons

_As I read through this, I feel slightly appalled. My writing is so juvenile. So, just for all of you, I've redone most of this chapter, and I'll do the same in chapter 4. Please review, it's the only way I can know if anyone's enjoying this at all._

_Disclaimer: Fred Weasley lives under my bed, but I don't own him. That's all._

**...**

**Chapter 3: Figg Newtons**

A ridiculously long walk later, the group finally reached their tent. The minute it came into sight, Serena's jaw dropped in horror. "Couldn't have picked a better spot," Mr. Weasley chuckled. Directly in front of them was a tiny beige tent that looked like it wouldn't be comfortable for one person, let alone nine. "Come on!" Mr. Weasley waved his hand excitedly. Serena cautiously followed Harry and Ron into the tent.

Her jaw dropped even further as she looked around the inside. It was much bigger than her own house; it even came complete with a miniature kitchen. "Girls," Mr. Weasley called. "Choose a bunk and unpack. Ron, get out of the kitchen, we're all hungry."

"Yeah, get out of the kitchen, Ron," Fred and George said in unison from their seats at the table.

"Feet off the table," Mr. Weasley ordered them.

"Feet off the table," the twins repeated, dropping their feet. The moment their father walked past, they put them back up. Serena and Harry grinned at each other.

"I love magic," she laughed.

"It kind of smells like Ms. Figg's house," Harry said thoughtfully. Serena's normally smooth brow crinkled in thought.

"What's a Miss Fig?" she questioned, misinterpreting the statement. "Oh, those little cookies with fruit and stuff inside?" Her eyes lit up. "I thought they were called Fig Newtons or something. Gosh, I'm hungry…"

Harry abruptly busted into laughter. "Never mind," he replied. Serena shook her pretty, golden head and walked towards her room to unpack.

…

After Percy, Bill, and Charlie arrived that night, everyone set off to the games. Serena stared as they neared the field. The stadium was huge; approximately five times the size of a normal football field. A smile crept onto her face as she thought of the marvelous time they were surely going to have.

But the smile had disappeared after twenty agonizing minutes of searching for their seats. "Blimey, Dad, how far up are we?" Ron panted.

"Let's put it this way," someone called from above. Serena froze still. She knew that voice. "If it rains, you'll be the first to know." Serena willed herself to keep walking, to simply ignore the voices. Instead of listening to that urge, she looked up to find the silver-haired Lucius Malfoy.

"Father and I are in the minister's box," the boy by his side bragged. Serena's eyes narrowed as she recognized him. "By invitation of Cornelius Fudge himself."

"Don't boast, Draco." Lucius smirked, tapping the boy on the shoulder. "There is no need with these people." He looked back to the Weasleys. "Do enjoy yourself… while you can." Serena caught Draco wink at her before snickering and walking off with his father. Her eyes flashed and she began to jump off the railing to maul him, but Ron and Harry each grabbed one of her shoulders.

"They aren't worth it, Serena," Harry insisted as Ron nodded in agreement. Serena glared for another long moment at Draco's back before turning and stomping up the next flight of stairs. Everyone glanced at each other uncertainly. But before Serena could do much more damage, a loud gunshot went off. The games were on.

"Come on, take your seats, the lot of you," Mr. Weasley showed them to their seats. "I told you they'd be worth waiting for!"

"Come on!" George insisted. Serena found herself wedged behind Ron and Ginny.

"It's the Irish!" Fred exclaimed suddenly, pointing up to several blurs of white and green on broomsticks. Serena watched as the players zoomed in opposite directions, leaving colored trails behind them. A glittering leprechaun appeared as the lights faded and began to dance. Serena reached over and high-fived Fred and Charlie, who were both intense Ireland fans.

"Here come the Bulgarians!" George shouted. Five figures in red cloaks flew out, crashing right into the dancing leprechaun. It disappeared just as one of the Bulgarians began to show off on his broomstick. Serena's eyes widened as the player appeared on the large screen and she could see his face more clearly.

"Is that…?" she reached past Fred and tugged George's arm.

"KRUM!" George yelled back with a grin.

"Krum, Krum, Krum!" the crowd began to chant. Serena and Hermione grinned at each other and whistled at Krum.

"Good evening!" a loud voice shouted. Everyone quieted down as the screen flashed to a picture of Barty Crouch, the head of the Ministry of Magic. "It gives me great pleasure to welcome each and every one of you to the final of the 422nd Quidditch World Cup. Let the match begin!"

Serena cheered loudly with her friends as the games started.

…

After the games that night, the atmosphere of the Weasley tent was suffocatingly high-spirited. Bulgaria had lost by twenty points and Serena, Fred and Charlie were now celebrating with bottles of butterbeer. "There's no one like Krum!" Ron insisted seriously, obviously a bit upset his team had lost.

Fred and George began bumbling about, lifting their cloaks over their head. Each muttered, "Kruuuuuummmmmmmmm! Krummmmmmm!" in ridiculously low voices that made Serena crack up.

"He's like a bird the way he rides the wind!" Ron continued. "He's more than a Quidditch player… he's an artist."

"I think you're in love, Ron," Serena grinned up at her friend, squeezing his hand.

"Viktor, I love you," Fred sang merrily.

"Viktor, I dooo!" George sang back. Harry and Serena grinned at each other before joining in.

"When we're apart, my heart beats only for youuuuuuu!" they all finished with a loud laugh. Fred pushed his shaggy bangs back from his eyes and parted them in the middle. He then crossed his eyes and stuck out his tongue.

"Viktor! Oh, Viktor, I miss your dashing face," he cried out in a high, girly voice, obviously mimicking Ron. He then proceeded in chasing Serena around the room.

"Stop, Fred!" Serena squealed, hurrying away. She giggled as Fred pounced forward, pinning her to the ground.

"Oh, Viktor, marry me!" he insisted as he tickled her in the sides.

"I'm Viktor, you idiot!" George said in a deep, gruff voice. "That's just my water boy."

"Oh," Fred gasped, covering his mouth. "I'm terribly sorry, Miss." Serena rolled her eyes and shoved him off. "Sounds like the Irish have got their pride on," he murmured, referring to the loud noises coming from outside the tent. His hand extended forward, as though he was ready to help Serena to her feet. Watching him warily, she took it and slowly stood up. Fred grinned and pushed her right back onto the couch without missing a beat. She laughed as he began to tickle her again.

"Fred, stop it!" she wailed, desperately trying to push him away.

"Stop, stop it!" Mr. Weasley shouted as he ran in the room. Everyone froze.

"We were only joking around, Dad," Fred insisted uncertainly.

"It's not the Irish," his father continued, ignoring his comment. "We have to get out of here." Serena glanced at Ron, Harry, and Hermione. "NOW!"

At that, they all ran outside. Serena's jaw dropped. It was chaos. Fires had spread throughout the campground and half of the people had evacuated. Those that were left were either screaming, running or a combination of the two. "Get back to the Portkey!" Mr. Weasley ordered. "Fred, George, Ginny is your responsibility."

"Serena!" Harry and George called at the same time. Deciding Fred and George had enough on their hands, Serena ran over to Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

"Come on!" she urged, tugging Ron and Hermione's arms. As she ran, Serena noticed a blurred figure running in the wrong direction. She whisked around to find that there were dozens of people in black cloaks, each walking deeper into the campgrounds. Each of them carried a torch and they were setting the remaining tents on fire. As she gaped at the sene in front of her, a hard force knocked into her shoulder.

"Ouch!" she yelped, falling to her knees. "That bloody hurt!" As she examined her scraped shoulder, something hit her on the head. After that, there was nothing.

…

_Serena was flying. Or maybe it only felt that way because of how well he danced. "You really are something else," she giggled, looking up into the pair of familiar hazel eyes above her._

"_Oh, no," the boy chuckled as he twirled her in a circle. "I'm only me. You, however, are more than special. You're quite spectacular, Serena."_

"_Oh, stop it, Cedric," Serena giggled, looking down to hide her blushing face. Cedric lifted up her chin and smiled._

"_I've been thinking," he started slowly. "And it seems as though maybe this would be the proper time for you and I to…"_

"_Yes?" she urged him, leaning closer. "You and I to…?"_

"_Wake up."_

"_Huh?" Serena exclaimed._

"Serena, wake up!"

Serena shot up to find Harry standing above her, shaking her shoulders frantically. "It was just a dream?" she shrieked, kicking the ground. "Bloody hell! Why does this always happen?"

"Why does what always happen?" the frantic look in Harry's eyes faded slightly.

"Never mind," she sighed. "What's going on?"

"Harry! Serena!" Hermione's voice split through the night sky. Serena and Harry looked up to find that Ron and Hermione were running towards them at full speed.

"We've been looking for you for ages!" Ron exclaimed as he clapped a hand on Harry's back. "We thought we'd lost you." Ron turned to Serena and grasped her shoulders firmly. "Don't you ever run away like that again, young lady. You hear?"

"We were worried sick!" Hermione squeaked as she embraced her sister. Serena staggered back. Was she still dreaming?

"Where are we?" she said uncertainly. Suddenly everyone twisted in the opposite direction and were all staring at the sky. Serena stomped her foot in frustration. "Great. Just great. When I'm dreaming, everything is fine and dandy, but when I'm awake-"

"Shut up," Ron hissed, clutching her arm. Serena's eyes narrowed and she resisted the urge to kick Ron in the face.

"Ronald-"

"Serena, _look_!" Ron pointed up at the night sky. Etched in the stars was a familiar green mist that had formed to look like a skull with a snake coming out of the mouth.

"The Dark Mark," Serena shivered in fear. Before another word could be said, they were completely surrounded.

"STUPEFY!" a hooded figure shouted as it fired. Serena gasped and ducked down, pulling Harry and Ron with her.

"STOP! STOP IT!" a familiar voice yelled. Serena sighed in relief. "That's my **son**!" Mr. Weasley came into view quickly, dragging Ginny and Fred at his side. "Harry, Ron, Serena, Hermione, are you all alright?"

"Which of you conjured this?" one of the wizards growled, ignoring Mr. Weasley's jab. Serena recognized him as Barty Crouch, the announcer from the World Cup games.

"You can't possibly-" Mr. Weasley gasped.

"Do not lie!" Mr. Crouch shouted. "You have been discovered at the scene of the crime.

"Crime?" Harry exclaimed.

"Barty, they're only kids!" Mr. Weasley insisted.

"What crime?" Harry tried again.

"The Dark Mark, Harry!" Serena pulled on his arm, pointing to the sky. "It's the dark mark. It's _his_ mark."

"The people tonight…" Harry's jaw dropped. "Those people in the masks. They were his followers, weren't they?"

"Follow me," Mr. Crouch ordered, hurrying in the opposite direction.

"There was a man!" Harry interrupted. Mr. Crouch paused and turned, his eyes narrowed in confusion. "Before. There," Harry added, pointing to a spot a few yards away.

"All of you, come with me!" Mr. Crouch repeated. Serena looked at Harry uncertainly.

"What man, Harry?" she asked quietly.

"I dunno," Harry replied, letting out a sigh. "I didn't see his face."

"This is awful," Ron sighed as they chased after Mr. Crouch.

"It really is," Hermione agreed.

"Hmph!" Serena grumbled, pushing past her friends. "Well at least none of you had to ditch your overly handsome dance partner to come to this mess."

"What're you talking about?" Harry asked, bewildered.

"What're _you_ talking about?"

"What?"

"Your hair looks nice today, Harry." Serena smiled brightly. Harry shook his head, obviously confused. She giggled and took his hand.

"You're quite possibly the strangest girl I've ever met," he sighed.

"Then you've obviously never met Ronald."


	4. On the road again

_Thank you to Her Little Doll for the nice review. :D I'm glad to see some people enjoy this. I'm going to try and update as much as possible because I have to leave for vacation next week. Remember to review, I like hearing feedback on it._

_Disclaimer: Nothing is mine except Serena._

...

**Chapter 4: On the road again…**

"I'm hungry," Ron whined for what must've been the tenth time that hour.

"You're fat," Serena replied, earning a smack on the arm from Hermione. Serena yelped and glowered at her sister. "What?! I'm trying to save him from himself!"

"A right good friend you are, Serena," Ron sighed, slumping down in his seat. Serena giggled and made her way to the other side of the compartment they were in.

"Oh, Ronald," she sighed dreamily, plopping down at his side. "I love you so."

"You have a funny way of showing it," Ron grumbled. She lowered her head in faux shame and snuck a peek at Harry out of the corner of her eye. He was staring at the floor with a sheepish smile on his face. Serena could barely suppress her laughter.

It hadn't been very long since the incident at the World Cup Quiddtich match and yet they were on the train right back to Hogwarts. Serena felt very strange about the entire situation. Although they'd been involved in such a huge incident only days before, she and her friends were right back to their normal life. Her nose crinkled at the thought and she let out a tiny giggle at the thought of their situation being even remotely normal.

"Anything from the trolley, dears?" a voice broke through the silence. Serena looked up to find an old, familiar witch standing in the open doorway. She was pushing a silver cart loaded with treats. Ron leapt to his feet at once.

"A packet of drewballs…" he said slowly, scanning the items. "And a licorice wand- second thought, just the drewballs." Ron ducked out of the way, an embarrassed flush in his cheeks.

"A pumpkin pastry, two chocolate frogs… oh, and a licorice wand, please," Serena winked at the older witch and reached down in her purse to fish out the money.

"Serena!" a girl exclaimed. Serena twisted around to find a familiar, pretty girl with long black hair waving in her direction.

"Oh, hey, Cho!" she called out, hurrying forward to hug the girl.

"How was your summer?" Cho questioned as she returned the embrace.

"Really good," Serena replied brightly. "Yours?"

"Pretty nice," Cho chuckled. "See you at the feast?"

"Yeah," Serena nodded and headed back into her compartment. Harry was standing still in the doorway, staring at Cho with a strange smile. "Harry?" Serena poked his stomach. As though he had just returned from a foreign world, Harry jumped up and glanced at his friend. "Can I get by?"

"Oh, yeah," Harry stammered as he moved to the side. Serena shut the door behind her and glanced at Ron, smiling slyly.

"Hey, Ron?"

"Yeah?" Ron mumbled, obviously still irritated. She tossed the licorice wand she'd just purchased at his head. As it fell to his lap a familiar grin spread across his face. "You're the greatest, Serena." He reached over and patted her leg.

"Yeah. I know." Serena waved her hand nonchalantly.

"This is horrible," Hermione exclaimed.

"Lighten up, 'Mione," Serena groaned. "I was only kidding about Ron being fat-"

"I mean this." Hermione held up the copy of the Daily Prophet that was in her lap. The headline read, _Hoax or reality? The Dark Mark returns_. Hermione huffed as she closed the paper. "How can the ministry not know who conjured it? Isn't there any security or-"

"Loads, according to Dad," Ron cut her off. "That's what worried them so much. Happened right under their noses." Serena noticed out of the corner of her eye that Harry was rubbing his head.

"Your scar's hurting again, isn't it?" she asked softly. Ron and Hermione went silent.

"I'm fine," Harry insisted.

"You know Sirius will want to hear about this." Hermione sighed. "What you saw at the world cup, and the dream."

"By the way," Serena changed the subject. "Did you all see Krum at the World Cup finals? He was incredible."

"I told you!" Ron laughed.

"He's something else," Hermione said admiringly. Harry shot Serena a look of thanks. Serena smiled in return. While Hermione and Ron chatted about Krum, Serena felt the exhaustion of the past week catch up to her. She leaned closer to Harry and rested her head on his shoulder, quickly drifting off into a peaceful sleep.

…

"Oh, land!" Serena squeaked as she jumped off of the Hogwarts Express. "Sweet land!"

"Serena, we were only on the train for a couple of hours," Ron laughed.

"I love you, Hogwarts," she sighed, ignoring Ron's jab. Harry, Hermione and Ron watched in silence as she ran towards a nearby tree and tossed her arms around it. The students walking by stared at her in wonder, but none of them laughed. Harry shook his head, dumbfounded. That was the thing about Serena. She could hug trees and proclaim her love to a castle, but nobody thought any less of her. In fact, the ridiculous things that she did made her rather charming.

"Get out of the way, Ms. Abney!" an adult voice scolded. Serena looked up to find Professor McGonagall shooing her out of the way.

"But it's my tree," Serena whined, reluctantly letting go.

"Nothing to see here," McGonagall said hurriedly to the rest of the students.

"There's something you don't see every day!" Harry laughed as Serena ran back to him. Before she could ask, he pointed to the huge carriage pulled by four massive flying horses that was landing on the ground. Serena's jaw dropped.

"Nothing to see here," Professor McGonagall repeated as she ushered them all into the castle, ignoring the groans that came from the students.

"Wonder what that was about?" Ron whispered to Serena as they sat at the Gryffindor table. She shrugged in reply. Suddenly Fred plopped next to her, a broad smile on her face.

"I heard they're going to take away really daft fourth years in that carriage," he said in a hushed tone. "Ronald, you should be prepared." Serena rolled her eyes.

"Fred, dear?" she cooed.

"Yep?"

"That seat's taken."

"Right then." Fred jumped up quickly and walked over to the seat beside George.

Harry took Fred's previous spot and turned to Serena and Ron. They all spoke quietly to each other during the sorting ceremony about the carriage they had seen.

"Maybe this year will be exciting for once." Ron said sarcastically. Serena shivered at the thought.

"I dunno how much more excitement I can take," she grumbled. After the new students had been placed in the appropriate houses, Professor Dumbledore stepped forward and clapped his hands together. Serena hushed Harry and Ron and turned to face the Headmaster.

"Now we're all settled in and sorted, I'd like to make an announcement," the aging man began. "This castle will not only be your home this year but home to some very special guests as well. You see, Hogwarts has been chosen…" He paused at this, watching in confusion as Mr. Filch, the caretaker, attempted to sprint forward. Mr. Filch quickly whispered something to Dumbledore, who nodded. The caretaker ran off again in the same strange way.

"Why does he do that?" Serena snickered quietly.

"Well, you see," Ron leaned forward. "Fred and George told me that one student got really angry with him and shoved a-"

"Now, Hogwarts has been chosen to host the legendary event-" Dumbledore interrupted Ron, who immediately fell quiet again. "-the Tri-Wizard tournament. Now for those of you who do not know, the Tri-Wizard tournament brings together three schools for a series of magical contests. From each school a single contestant is selected to compete. Now let me be clear," Dumbledore paused again, looking around the room. "If chosen you stand alone. And trust me when I say these contests are not for the faint hearted." Fred and George looked at each other and grinned.

"Wicked," they high-fived.

"But more of that later." Dumbledore smiled kindly at his students. "For now, please join me in welcoming the lovely ladies of the Beauxbatons Academy of magic and their headmistress, Madam Maxime!"

The doors of Hogwarts flew open, and several beautiful girls in blue dresses danced in.

"Blimey, that's one big woman!" Ron hissed to Harry and Serena as a woman taller Hagrid walked down the aisle behind the girls. As they all sat down, Harry and Ron jumped up and cheered along with most of the other boys in the school.

"I don't think they're all that pretty," Serena scowled.

"Couldn't agree more," Fred murmured sarcastically. Before Serena could retaliate, Dumbledore stepped forward again.

"And now we greet our friends from the north. Please greet the proud sons of Durmstrang and the headmaster, Igor Karkaroff!"

"This is horribly confusing," Serena sighed. "What's going on, exactly?"

"It's him!" Ron gasped, tugging her arm. "Viktor Krum!" Serena looked up to find the Bulgaria Quidditch player from the World Cup Finals stomping down the aisle, a grouchy look plastered onto his face.

"Still infatuated, Ron?" she giggled, tweaking his nose.

"Viktor, I love you," Fred sang under his breath. Serena cracked up. The Great Hall applauded as the Durmstrang boys took their seats. Professor Dumbledore stepped back up to the podium for the third time that night.

"I believe only a few words are in order before the feast begins," he said calmly. "Tagriff, joystick, nimbler, tweak. May the feast begin!"

"Hear, hear!" Ron, Harry, and Serena called, clapping loudly. Others joined them, while some looked around uncertainly. The awkward silence ended as the golden plates on the tables before them immediately filled with food.

"Thank God," Serena sighed. "I'm starving!"

"You're fat," Ron grinned.

"Shut up," Serena advised him. She reached forward and took the spoon for the mashed potatoes at the same time Fred did. A flush filled her cheeks and she immediately jerked her hand back.

"Come on, Serena," Ron's smile faded. "I was only kidding."

"I-I know," she chuckled, glancing down at the table. "Suddenly I don't have much of an appetite anymore." Fred stayed silent, staring at his untouched plate as though his life depended on it. Harry and Ron looked at each other knowingly. An uncomfortable silence overcame the table for the rest of the meal.

"Your attention please!" Professor Dumbledore called after the students had eaten pudding. "I have just a few last things to say. Eternal glory; that is what awaits the student who wins the tri-wizard tournament. But to do this that student must survive three tasks." He slowly scanned the room. "Three _extremely_ dangerous tasks."

"Wicked," Fred spoke for the first time in an hour.

"For this reason the ministry has seen fit to impose a new rule." Dumbledore went on. "To explain all this we have the head of the department of international magic cooperation, Mister Bartimus Crouch."

"Blimey!" Ron hissed suddenly, tugging Serena's arm. "It's Mad-Eye Moody!"

"What?" Serena looked up at once.

"Alastor Moody?" Hermione exclaimed. "The auror?"

"Who?" Harry said, obviously confused.

"He was a catcher," Ron explained.

"Half of the cells in Azkaban are full because of him," Serena went on for him. "He's supposedly mad as a hatter these days."

The slightly plump man with scraggily hair, a mechanical eye, and strange flask attached to his belt limped towards the front of the room. Professor Dumbledore patted the man on the back and whispered something to him. Moody muttered back, then pulled out his flask and took a long swig.

"What's that he's drinking, d'you suppose?" Fred muttered.

"I dunno," Harry replied. "But I doubt it's pumpkin juice."

"I heard he turns the students who misbehave in his class into parchment and quills and lets other students use them," George hissed. Ron whipped out his schedule.

"We don't have him until Thursday?" he asked, obviously disappointed. Barty Crouch stepped towards the podium and cleared his throat.

"After much deliberation the ministry has concluded that for their own safety no student under the age of seventeen shall be allowed to put forth their name for the tri-wizard tournament." The room erupted in objection. "This decision is _final_." Mr. Crouch called out loudly.

"That's rubbish!" Serena and George yelled at same time.

"You don't know what you're doing!" Fred chimed in.

"SILENCE!" Dumbledore ordered. The room fell quiet again. The headmaster walked towards a tall object which, for some reason, none of them had really noticed before. He pulled the blanket off of it, revealing a goblet filled with a flickering blue flame. "The goblet of fire," Professor Dumbledore announced.

"It's really a goblet filled with fire," Serena whispered.

"What did you expect?" George hissed back.

"Dunno," Serena replied uncertainly. "A goblet painted to look like fire? A fire with a goblet inside? There are many possibilities, George."

"Anyone wishing to submit themselves for the tournament should write their name upon a piece of parchment and throw it in the flame before this hour on Thursday night." Dumbledore continued. "Do not do so lightly; if chosen there's no turning back. As from this moment the tri-wizard tournament has begun."

After this, they were dismissed to their dorms. As Serena exited, she heard someone call out her name.

"Cedric!" Serena giggled as she ran towards the sound of the voice. The taller boy hugged her lightly.

"Hey," he laughed. "Feeling better?"

"Yeah," Serena blushed, remembering the previous day.

"Hey Ced, who's the new girlfriend?" a Ravenclaw boy cat-called. Serena's cheeks burned.

"Awww!" a Hufflepuff girl giggled. Fred, George, Harry, and Ron passed by as yet another girl sang, "Ceddy and Serena, sitting in a tree…"

"Wait, what?!" Ron stopped still.

"Our wittle Serena is growing up," George sighed, wiping a fake tear from his eye.

"Not with that Hufflepuff, she isn't," Fred grumbled darkly. Serena giggled and backed away from Cedric, who lingered a moment longer before releasing her. At that moment, Fred stumbled into George, who fell onto Harry, who crashed into Ron, who had been reaching for Serena.

As they fell to the ground, Serena shrieked and reached for Cedric's outstretched hand, but only ended up pulling him to the ground with them. As they landed with a thud, she began to laugh. Her friends joined in, and soon enough Serena was doubled over with laughter. The students passing by stared at the hysterical group uncertainly.

"Always having fun," Serena sighed as she untangled herself from the group.

"Look at the time!" Fred fake-yawned, grabbing Serena's arm. "Come on, time to sleep. Nighty-night, Cedric."

"See you," Serena smiled at Cedric. He winked and turned away, heading to the Hufflepuff common room.

"What was that about?" Harry exclaimed as he caught up with Serena and Fred.

"Yeah!" Ron insisted. Fred and George jumped in front of her, walking backwards so they could keep her gaze. Serena rolled her green eyes. She was surrounded.

"What was it about?" she repeated mysteriously. Everyone nodded, eager to hear the answer. She grabbed a quill that was peeking out of Harry's pocket and skipped off to the Gryffindor common room.

"Hey!" Harry laughed, chasing after her. Ron followed at once.

"Cheer up, Fred," he shouted over his shoulder.

"Cheer up?" Fred yelled back. "I'm cheery! I'm as up as the cheer goes! Goooo lions!" At this, he pumped a fist in the air like an overly-excited cheerleader. George shook his head in disgust at his brother.

"Ridiculous," he sighed.

Serena dashed up the stairs two at a time until she reached the Gryffindor common room. Harry laughed and caught her from behind, tickling her sides. "Give me that!" he demanded, reaching for the quill.

"You win!" Serena squeaked. She laughed and handed the quill to her best friend. He took it cautiously, suprised by the lack of argument.

"The fight's over?" Ron asked as he, George and Fred walked into the common room.

"Sorry to disappoint," Serena sighed. "But I'm much too tired to play with feathers, thank you."

"No one is ever too tired to play with feathers!" George exclaimed.

"It's the great American pastime," Fred chimed in.

"Well, it's a good thing we don't live in America." Serena rolled her eyes. "Goodnight, you all."

She embraced Harry and Ron and waved to George and Fred before hurrying up the staircase to her dorm. Angela, Katie, Ginny and Hermione were already fast asleep by the time she opened the door. Letting out an exhausted sigh, Serena climbed into bed and closed her navy blue eyes.

Although, sleeping would do no good; she dreamt about him, too.


	5. Moody Madness

_Sorry for the lack of updates, I've been on vacation. Thank you to starshotter5793 for the review. I really do hope everyone is enjoying the story as much as I have, I feel like such a geek! ^-^ Baha. Anyways, read and review. I really appreciate it!_

_..._

**Chapter 5: Moody Madness (In more ways than one)**

The next two days passed without a single incident, aside from Neville losing his pet toad every other hour. Finally came the day when it was time to have Defense Against the Dark Arts class. No sooner had Serena sat herself next to Hermione had Moody walked out and picked up a piece of chalk. "Alastor Moody," Professor Moody announced his name while writing it quickly on the board. "Ministry malcontent. And your new defense against the dark arts teacher. I'm here because Dumbledore asked me, end of story, goodbye, the end. Any questions?" The class was silent. Moody continued. "When it comes to the dark arts, I believe in a practical approach. But first, which of you can tell me how many unforgivable curses there are?"

"Three, sir," Hermione replied meekly. Serena noticed that she looked a bit pale.

"And they are so named?"

"Because they are unforgivable," Serena replied. "Use of any one of them will-"

"Will earn you a one way ticket to Azkaban." Moody interrupted, writing this on the board. "Correct." He turned to face the class. "Now the ministry says you're too young to see what these curses do. I say different!" The teacher turned back to the board and began to write. "You need to know what you're up against, you need to be prepared; you need to find somewhere else to put your chewing gum other than the underside of your desk, Mr. Finnegan!"

Serena's jaw dropped. How had Moody seen that? She was in the table behind Seamus and had barely even noticed. Seamus turned to her and Hermione and hissed, "Aw, there's no way the old codger can see out of the back of his head."

Apparently, his hearing was just as good as his sight, because Moody twisted around and tossed his piece of chalk at Seamus' head. Serena ducked her blonde head under the table to hide her laugh. "So, which curse shall we see first?" Moody's eyes scanned the room. "WEASLEY!"

"Y-Yes?" Ron whimpered from his seat.

"Give us a curse," Moody insisted.

"Well…" Ron began slowly. "My dad, he did tell me about one. The imperious curse."

"Ahhh yes," Moody nodded briskly. "Your father would know all about that. Gave the ministry quite a bit of grief a few years ago- perhaps will show you why." At this, Moody pulled a spider out of a tiny jar on his desk. "Hello… What a little beauty."

"What's he going to do?" Serena squeaked. Ron turned to look at her, his eyes filled with terror. She sighed, offering a smile laced with pity. Ron had never been very fond of spiders.

"_Imperious_!" Moody whisked his wand out of his pocket and pointed it at the spider. It grew at least two times in size and proceeded in flying around the room. "Don't worry. Completely harmless." The classroom was filled with a mixture of laughter and shrieks as the spider landed on various students. "But if she bites… she's lethal!" Moody chuckled.

The spider landed on Ron's mess of red hair and danced in a circle. Draco Malfoy laughed at the sight, nudging his friends Crabbe and Goyle in the ribs. "What're _you_ laughing about?" Moody snapped as he sent the spider flying at Draco's platinum blonde locks. It landed on his face and stayed there for several moments.

"That's a nice look for you, Malfoy," Serena teased. Draco turned to glare at her as the spider jumped off of his face.

"Talented, isn't she?" Moody laughed, staring at his spider admiringly. "What ever shall I make her do next? Fly out the window?" The laughter died down as Moody sent the spider hurling towards the window, but he made her stop just before she crashed. "Drown herself?" The spider dangled over an open glass of water, dangling about helplessly.

"Poor thing," Serena murmured.

"Scores of witches and wizards have claimed that they only did you-know-who's bidding under the influence of the imperious curse," Moody began again. "But here's the rub, how do we sort out the liars?" He began to pace frantically around the room. "Another, another… Come on, come on." The teacher glanced in Neville's direction, his eyes lighting up with recognition. "Longbottom is it? Up, get up. Professor Sprout tells me you have an aptitude for herbology."

Neville clambered to his feet, glancing around the room nervously. "There's… um… the Cruciatus curse."

"Ah, good!" Moody clapped his hands together. "Particularly nasty. The torture curse. Come, come." He pointed his wand towards the spider. "_Cruciatus_!" The spider began to twist around in pain. Neville's entire face crumbled as he watched it.

"Stop, stop!" Hermione shouted, pushing herself out of her chair. "Stop it! Can't you see it's bothering him?"

"Perhaps you can tell me what the last unforgivable curse is, Miss Granger?" Moody questioned as he drew his wand away. She quickly shook her head. "Anyone?" The room remained silent. Moody walked back towards the spider and drew his wand out again. With one quick flick and a cry of, "_Avada Kedarva_!" the spider stopped moving completely. Serena gulped down the lump that was forming in her throat and stared out the window, unable to look at the creature.

"Avada Kedarva," Moody repeated calmly as he put away his wand.  
"The killing curse. Only one person is known to survive it. And he's sitting in this room."

The bell rang and Serena gathered her books immediately, hurrying out of the room as fast as she could. "Brilliant isn't he!" Ron exclaimed as he hurried to her side. "Completely demented, of course. Terrifying to be in the same room with, he's really BEEN there, you know."

"There's a reason those curses are unforgivable," Hermione growled back. "And to perform them in a _classroom_! I mean, did you see poor Neville's face?" Suddenly, she froze still. Neville stood only a few feet away from them, staring out the window with lifeless eyes. His face was pale, drained completely of color. Serena hesitantly reached forward and patted his shoulder.

"Neville?" she asked.

"Son," Moody came from nowhere, eying Neville cautiously. "You alright?" When Neville offered a nod, Moody wrapped his arm around the boy's shoulders. "Come on, we'll have some tea. I want to show you something."

"What do you think it is?" Ron mumbled.

"I dunno," Serena whispered back. But she knew it couldn't be good.

…

"I don't think he fancies me at all," Serena sighed as she stared at Cedric Diggory. He had just placed a piece of parchment with his name on it in the Goblet of Fire and was now high-fiving his Hufflepuff friends.

"I think he does," Hermione said absent-mindedly.

"Oh, no!" Serena quickly turned to face her, her cheeks flushing. "I didn't mean it that way. We were just good friends before. It feels strange now."

"Eternal glory," Ron sighed, ignoring their jab as he plopped down beside them. "Be brilliant, wouldn't it? In three years from now, we'd be able to enter."

"Better you than me," Harry snorted from his seat beside Serena. Suddenly two familiar faces came into view, both carrying small vials of a misty blue liquid. The room erupted in applause.

"What're Fred and George doing here?" Ron groaned. "Oh, kill me, Serena."

"Thank you, thank you," George bowed low to his audience. "Well lads and ladies, we've done it."

"Cooked it up this morning." Fred added brightly.

"It's not going to work," Serena yawned. George tossed an arm around her shoulder.

"Why's that, Abney?" he questioned. Serena pointed to a circle around the Goblet of Fire.

"See that?" she asked. "It's an age line. Dumbledore drew it himself."

"So?" Fred snorted.

"So, a genius like Dumbledore couldn't possibly be fooled by something as pathetically dimwitted as an age potion." Hermione finished from where she sat.

"What she said," Serena nodded.

"That's why it's so brilliant," Fred replied casually.

"Ready, Gred?" George grinned.

"Ready, Forge?"

The two drank the potions at the same time and jumped inside the age line. Serena was honestly surprised when nothing happened to the twins. They high-fived and dropped slips of parchment into the flames. Once again, nothing happened. Everyone cheered as the two began to walk away, but they hadn't gotten far when the flames flew up and shot the parchment back at them, sending them into nearby walls. Serena gasped and jumped to her feet.

"Are they alright?" she squeaked. But her shock turned into amusement when she saw what the twins had received from their little experiment; full grey beards, mustaches, and long, scraggly hair.

"You said…" George growled at his brother.

"_You_ said!" Fred exclaimed. As they wrestled around in frustration, Viktor Krum entered the room. Taking long strides, he dropped his name in the goblet and turned to go, smiling shyly at Hermione as he passed. Serena rolled her eyes as Hermione waved back and blushed.

"Come on, idiots," Serena sang as she grabbed each of the twins' wrists.

"Yes, Mum," George said brightly.

"Shut up, Grandpa," she spat back. George's smile faded, but Fred grinned.

"Yeah, hush up, gramps," Fred whipped off his scarf and tossed it at George. Serena confiscated it, wrapping it around her neck hastily.

"Hey, Ron, help me take your daft brothers to the infirmary." She led the twins over to Ron.

"Gladly," Ron grinned. He took George's arm and hurried off, leaving Serena with Fred.

"Hey, hang on!" she exclaimed. This hadn't been what she'd had in mind. But with a defeated sigh, she took Fred's wrist and led him to the nurse. "Well, I have to say, that wasn't one of your better ideas." She glanced in Fred's direction.

"I actually thought it was pretty good," he argued.

"You're really daft, you know that?" Serena released Fred's wrist the moment they reached Madam Pomfrey's door. "Idiot alert. All yours." She called over her shoulder before running off.

"Wait, young whipper-snapper! You kept my scarf!" Fred shouted over her shoulder. But she pretended not to hear him.

…

The following Thursday during lunch, Dumbledore stood at his podium, ready to announce the Triwizard Champions. "And now, for the moment you've all been waiting for," he called out. "The selection of champions!" With a wave of his hand, Dumbledore received the first roll of parchment from the Goblet of Fire. "Durmstrang's champion is…"

"Krum, Krum, Krum." Fred muttered under his breath.

"Viktor Krum!" Dumbledore smiled at the crowd. Viktor jumped up, punching the air with his fists. Before another moment had passed, the second piece of parchment flew to Dumbledore. "Beauxbaton's champion is… Fleur Delacour!" An incredibly pretty blonde girl jumped up from Beauxbaton's table and hurried forward to meet Dumbledore, a dazzling smile plastered onto her perfect face. All that was left now was Hogwarts' Champion. Serena crossed her fingers under the table and closed her eyes in a silent prayer.

"And the Hogwarts champion…" Dumbledore continued slowly. "…Is Cedric Diggory!" Serena leapt to her feet and whistled, applauding loudly for Cedric.

"That's just perfect," Ron grumbled, clapping unenthusiastically.

"Excellent!" Dumbledore spoke after the applause died down. "We now have our three champions. But in the end, only one will go down in history. Only one will hoist this chalice of champions, this vessel of victory the Tri-Wizard cup!"

"This is going to be amazing," Serena gushed as she sat back down between Ron and Harry.

"I agree," Hermione said cheerfully.

"Girls," Ron grumbled.

Suddenly the room went completely silent. Serena twisted towards the front of the room to find that Dumbledore was now holding a fourth piece of parchment in his hand.

"…Harry Potter," he read off of the paper.

"Harry?!" Serena hissed, smacking him on the arm.

"I didn't do anything, I swear!" Harry whispered.

"Don't you lie to me, Harry." Serena's navy eyes flashed.

"You know me," Harry murmured. She studied his face a moment longer. He seemed every bit as shocked as she was.

"Harry Potter." Dumbledore repeated.

"Go on, Harry!" Hermione exclaimed. "Oh, for goodness' sake, go on." Harry stumbled to his feet and hurried up to the front of the room where the other champions stood. Serena stared at his retreating figure, her heart beating so loud that it echoed in her ears.

The room began to protest.

"He's a cheat!" several shouted.

"He's not even seventeen yet!"

"This isn't fair, somebody has to do something!"

But Albus Dumbledore simply led Harry out of the room, a grim expression plastered onto his aging face.


	6. Jealousy is a boy's best friend

_I'm a little dissapointed in the lack of reviews... Come on, loves! If you like it, let me know. Even if you don't, I want to hear from you. Read it and review!_

_..._

**Chapter 6: Jealousy is a boy's best friend**

"Ron, come on," Serena groaned as she sat down on the couch between Ron and Hermione once they reached the Gryffindor common room. "I'm sure Harry had nothing to do with this."

"How could he do it and not tell me?" Ron fumed. Serena sighed and leaned back in the seat, her golden head falling onto Hermione's shoulder.

"I give up," she muttered.

"Well, Serena, does that mean you're taking _his_ side?"

"I'm not taking ANY side, Ronald." Serena replied sternly. She lifted her legs and rested them on his lap. "I'm just saying that maybe you should give him a chance to explain things before you jump to conclusions." She crossed her ankles and closed her eyes.

"Whatever," Ron muttered. He dropped his head in his hands and let out a sigh. After a few minutes of awkward silence, Serena sat back up and slipped her legs off of Ron's lap. But before her feet could hit the floor, Ron slipped one of her shoes off and proceeded in running around the room.

"Eek!" Serena squealed.

"Come get it, big foot," Ron laughed. He was running at full speed now, but he was abnormally slow for a boy and Serena was very fast.

"Take that!" she cheered as she tackled him to the floor.

"This is serious!" Hermione shouted from the couch. Ron and Serena froze still, glancing at each other warily. "Harry's life could be in danger. What if someone put his name in that cup on purpose? What if he gets killed?" Serena jumped off of the ground and pulled Ron to his feet. The two made their way to the couch and sat back down beside Hermione.

"It's going to be okay." Serena promised soothingly as she pulled Hermione into an embrace. "I'm scared too." Hermione buried her face in Serena's shoulder and hugged back. Ron hesitantly reached around Serena's trembling shoulders and patted Hermione on the back.

Suddenly the common room door creaked open and a dark-haired boy entered the room. "Harry!" Serena gasped, scrambling to her feet.

"What's wrong?" he stared at her, completely bewildered. Hermione hurried over and threw her arms around Harry's neck.

"Nothing's wrong, Harry," she cried. "Oh, we're just so glad you're alright. We were all so worried…"

Serena stared at her best friend, irritation spreading through her like a wildfire. How could he stand in the doorway and what was wrong when his life was in danger? Wasn't it obvious that they were afraid for his safety?

"I think I'm going to go for a walk," she mumbled, pushing past Harry and Hermione.

"Hey, Serena, wait!" Harry called after her retreating figure. She hesitated, glancing over her shoulder uncertainly. "I-I'll come with you."

"Alright," Serena said after a moment. "Ron, 'Mione, you coming?"

"No." Ron snapped. Hermione released Harry and smiled meekly.

"I think I'll stay here, too," she said. "I still have homework to do."

"You aren't mad too, are you?" Harry murmured as he and Serena made their way down the staircase.

"Not exactly," she answered slowly. An uncomfortable silence stayed between them until they reached the courtyard and began to make their way to Hagrid's hut.

"I didn't do it, Serena," Harry insisted suddenly.

"I know."

"I'm just as surprised as you are."

"I know, Harry, I know." Serena stopped walking for a moment and stared up at the sky. "I believe you."

"At least somebody's on my side." he sighed.

"So does that mean you're actually going to do it?" She turned to face him.

"Yeah," he nodded. "I am." They fell quiet once more.

"I'm afraid," she murmured when the silence became unbearable.

"I am, too," Harry admitted. He reached out and touched Serena's shoulder gently. "But you don't need to worry, it'll be alright."

"Me? Not worry?" She reached up and placed the back of her hand against Harry's clammy forehead. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Hilarious," he said sarcastically.

"I think all of this clean air is getting to you. Maybe we'll find you a nice cupboard to hang out in for awhile."

He chuckled and wrapped his arms around her, hugging her close. "You always know just what to say, Serena."

"I try," she murmured into his shoulder. She wasn't sure how long they stayed like that, but it must've been quite awhile, because when she looked back up the sky had become tinted with pink.

"Nearly sunset," Harry observed, letting go of her torso. "I suppose we should head back."

"Good idea," Serena nodded. She linked her arm through Harry's and made her way back to the castle. As they walked side by side, Serena couldn't help but remember the way things began when she had first met Harry. They had each attended Stonewall, a public junior high school for muggles. That had been before they had known Hermione, Ron or even Hogwarts ever existed at all.

Serena, always in a hurry, had been racing to the school at full speed, wolfing down her breakfast at the same time. Poor Harry had simply been an innocent bystander, standing at the front of the school while reading over his schedule for the day. She slammed directly into him and they both fell to the ground, their books scattering all over the ground.

"Oh, are you okay?" Harry had exclaimed as he brushed the dirt off of his oversized jeans.

"I'm alright," she nodded, tugging on the back of her blonde ponytail. "But you kind of look like you were hit by the ugly train this morning."

"Huh?" he had stared at her, his green eyes wide with confusion.

"I'm kidding," she laughed. "Sort of. You just look tired, that's all."

"Oh," Harry had smiled and rubbed his red-rimmed eyes under his huge glasses. "Well, I woke up at five-o-clock to get breakfast ready for my aunt and uncle. And then, of course, they didn't come to eat it until six thirty. The entire time they complained about it being cold."

"I ruined your lunch," Serena noted, staring at Harry's lunch bag, the contents of which were now covered in dirt.

"It's not a big deal," he pushed his glasses up on his face.

"I'll share mine with you," she insisted.

"Oh- no, it's fine." Harry blushed.

"Don't make me force it down your throat."

"Is that a threat?" He tilted his messy, dark-haired head to the side.

"It could be," Serena had laughed and glanced at his schedule out of the corner of her eye. It turned out that they had the first five classes of the day together, along with lunch period and recess. Harry walked her home every day after school, even though it was at least ten minutes away from his own house. Harry had become her best friend before she could even think it over.

The memory warmed her entire body down to her toes and a soft smile spread over her face. She pulled Harry's arm closer and snuggled into his shoulder. "Erm, what's that for?" Harry chuckled.

"I'm just cold, that's all," she murmured as they stopped in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady. Harry said the password and they made their way into the Gryffindor common room.

"You two were gone for awhile," somebody snapped as Serena closed the door.

"We were conspiring against the ministry," Serena said sarcastically. "I was thinking that releasing that overly active owl of yours in one of their meetings would quite nicely."

"Hullo, Ron," Harry sighed.

"Yup, that's me," Ron stood from his seat by the fireplace. "Ronald Weasley, Harry Potter's stupid friend." He paused and both he and Harry eyed Serena nervously, as though neither wanted to begin the argument in front of her.

"I'm leaving, I'm leaving." She hugged Harry one last time and rushed forward to kiss Ron on the cheek.

"G'night," Ron mumbled.

"Play nicely, boys," she sang before skipping up the steps to the girl's dormitory.

The following morning at breakfast, Harry was nowhere to be found. Ron explained, bitterly, that he was off at an interview with the Daily Prophet's Rita Skeeter. Serena sighed and tossed her forkful of eggs back onto her plate, her appetite completely gone.

"We'll do something fun today," Hermione promised, picking up Serena's empty fork. She forced a bite into Serena's mouth and continued speaking. "After potions class, we'll go down to the lake. We'll invite Cedric; you haven't talked to him in ages."

"Count me out." Ron grumbled. Hermione's amber-colored eyes flashed with anger.

"And why is that, Ronald?" she snapped.

"No reason," Ron stood up from his seat and grabbed his books, hurrying off without another word.

"Somebody's a little jealous," Hermione observed.

"Isn't he always?" Serena took one last bite of eggs and climbed to her feet. "Come on, it's a double potions class today. Let's go annoy the fool out of Malfoy."

…

The following day, Serena found herself lying down in the endless lawn that surrounded Hogwarts. Strands of her long blonde hair mixed Harry's as she inched closer to him and pointed up at the cloud above their heads.

"I think that one looks like Elvis Presley with a nose job," she said brightly. Harry burst into laughter, which made her smile. After his interview with Rita Skeeter, Harry had been utterly depressed for several hours. Serena thought this was just the thing he needed to perk back up. Her eyes squinted as she tried to decipher the next cloud in the sky. "Hmm, I'm not quite sure what that is." She lifted her head to look at Neville Longbottom, who sat a few feet away with his nose buried in a book. "Neville, what do you think?"

"Amazing!" Neville exclaimed without looking up from his book. It was clear he hadn't heard a word Serena had said. "Amazing."

"Amazing?" Serena turned her face back up at the sky. "Why yes, I know I am, but I was asking about the cloud."

"Neville," Harry scolded. "You're doing it again."

"Oh," Neville paused. "Right. Sorry."

"What's so special about _Magical Water Plants of the Highland Lochs_ anyways?" Serena asked suddenly.

"Moody gave it to me," Neville explained. "That day we had tea. Oh, look, it's Ron!" He suddenly waved his hand frantically, as though saying hello to somebody. Serena lifted herself up on her elbows and turned her head over her shoulder to find Ron, Hermione and Ginny making their way towards her.

"Hey, guys." Serena jumped to her feet. Hermione and Ginny waved back, but Ron crossed his arms in front of his chest. He whispered something to Hermione, who rolled her eyes and stormed over to Serena and Harry. The two pulled themselves into a sitting position and stared up at Hermione, like two children ready for story time.

"Ronald would like me to tell you that Seamus told him that Dean was told by Parvati that Hagrid was looking for you." Hermione said without a single pause.

"How exciting," Serena clapped her hands together.

"Is that right?" Harry blinked. "Well… what?"

"Uh…" Hermione hesitated. She ran back to Ron, who whispered something into her ear again. Harry squeezed Serena's shoulders gently. She glanced up at him, a bit confused by his sudden display of affection. Hermione walked towards Harry again. "Seamus was told by Dean that…" she groaned. "Please don't make me say it again. Hagrid's looking for you." Then, she turned and walked away.

"Well, you can tell Ronald," Harry began. Hermione twisted around.

"I am NOT an owl!" she shouted angrily. Grabbing Ginny's arm, she stormed away. Ron glared at Harry for a long time before looking over at Serena.

"C'mon, Serena," he held his hand out to her. "I need to talk to you."

"Why?" Harry snapped.

"I'm not allowed to talk to my best friend?" Ron growled. Serena glanced at Harry uncertainly. He hesitantly released her shoulders as she climbed to her feet and walked over to Ron.

"See you later, Harry?" she asked in a quiet voice.

"Of course," Harry mumbled, staring out at the Black Lake.

"What are you doing?" Ron grumbled as they walked away. "He's a bloody cheat, a liar. Serena-"

"No!" Serena snapped. "You're immature dullards. This is the most ridiculous fight you've ever had. And to top it off, you're both using Hermione and I to make each other jealous. Well, I'm quite done with it!"

"Oh, not you too," Ron groaned as she stormed away. "Serena? Come on, Serena, I didn't-" He paused, as though trying to find the right words. "I didn't mean it that way. I wanted to warn you."

"Warn me of what? What a dangerous crook my best friend is?"

"Kinda," Ron admitted, smiling sheepishly. But Serena didn't laugh. Instead, she twisted around and hurried off to the castle. "Serena?"

"Leave me alone!" Serena shouted before breaking into a run.

She didn't stop running until she finally reached the Gryffindor common room. "Password?" the Fat Lady asked uncertainly.

"Hetsapharia," Serena said breathlessly, hurrying inside. Luckily, the only person in the room was Fred, who glanced up the moment she entered the room.

"Hey," he waved her over. Serena walked over and flopped down next to him, hugging her knees to her chest as she tried to catch her breath. "Bad day?"

"You've no idea."

"I used to have those too." Fred squeezed her narrow shoulders gently. "Wanna know what happened?"

"Not really, but tell me anyways."

"I stopped caring."

"Yeah, right," Serena snorted.

"Seriously," Fred replied. "Come on; say something really nasty about me." Serena pondered this.

"You're an immature fellow with fluff for a brain," she answered thoughtfully.

"Ouch," Fred grabbed at his chest in faux pain. "But I'm ignoring it. Now say something nice."

"You're…" Serena hesitated. "I like your…" For some reason, her mind was at a blank.

"That's okay," Fred chuckled. "I like you too." Serena froze under his grasp, unable to come up with a decent comeback. For some reason, being around Fred always did this to her. She couldn't think clearly and every time she moved, her legs felt like jelly. Suddenly she realized he hadn't moved his arm from around hr shoulders. Wriggling free of his grasp, she crossed her legs and looked away in a huff. Fred's smile faded slightly. "Seriously, what's going on?"

"Nothing," she lied.

"You women," Fred shook his head. "Nothing's ever wrong when something really is."

"Thanks for the talk," Serena called over her shoulder as she bolted out of the room and down the staircase. By the time she had gotten out to the courtyard, she'd cooled off a good bit, but that didn't mean she was ready to forgive Harry and Ron. She scanned the courtyard for Hermione or Ginny, but neither was in sight.

"Hey!" a voice called out from across the yard. She looked over to find Cedric waving at her, a smile on his face. As she made her way over towards him, she spotted Ron and Harry glaring at each other.

"You're a right foul git, you know that?" Harry hissed.

"You think so?" Ron replied calmly.

"I know so," Harry snapped. "This is your fault."

"Anything else?"

"Yeah," Harry replied. "Stay away from me."

"Fine."

The two spotted Serena watching them. An unbearably awkward silence ensued until she brushed past them, hurrying towards Cedric. "Serena," Harry called after her.

"Give her some time." Ron mumbled.

"Hey," Cedric said brightly as Serena sat by his side.

"Hullo," she answered with a smile. Cedric grinned down at her, but she found herself unable to pay her full attention to him. For out of the corner of her eye, she saw Fred Weasley walking beside George, laughing as George spoke to Cho Chang and Katie Bell. As though he sensed Serena watching him, Fred glanced over suddenly.

Something clicked into place in Serena's mind, and a strange feeling fluttered into her stomach. For some reason she felt as though a weight had just been lifted off of her chest. Like she had just confessed her darkest secret or learned the truth about something that had been on her mind. And as Fred smiled slightly in her direction, his ears turning a shade of pink, she understood what she hadn't before.

_Oh._

_Oh, no._


	7. Freindships Renewed

_Thanks to Aqua Skies for the review!_

_I've begun working on a video for Fire in a Cup. I can't tell you what just yet- it would give away the suprise! But it should be done fairly soon, so I'll post the link on here as soon as possible. Please read and review!_

_..._

**Chapter 7: Friendships renewed**

"Why so tense, Potter?" a voice broke through Serena's racing thoughts. She looked up from her seat beside Cedric to find Draco Malfoy sitting high in the tallest tree in the schoolyard. Harry stood on the ground beneath Malfoy, glaring up at the Slytherin boy menacingly. "My father and I have a bet, you see," Draco went on as he dropped to his feet. "I think you'll only last ten minutes in the championship. But he disagrees- he thinks you'll only last five."

"Harry," Serena gasped, beginning to scramble to her feet. The last thing she wanted was for a fight to break out.

"I don't give a damn about what your father thinks!" Harry snarled back. "He's vile and cruel. And **you're** just pathetic."

Serena watched, impressed, as Harry turned around to walk away. But before he had gotten far, Malfoy whipped out his wand and pointed it at the middle of Harry's back. "No!" she yelped, jumping up from her seat.

She wasn't quite sure what happened after that. Everything came quite quickly. Suddenly Professor Moody was standing in front of Malfoy, his own wand held at the ready. And then Malfoy was shrinking and sprouting tiny white fur all over his arms. Then it spread to his legs, his feet, his face… Serena blinked once, and when she opened her eyes Malfoy was gone, and in his place was a fluffy white ferret.

"That isn't very nice," she mused as Cedric and his Hufflepuff friends burst into hysterics.

"I'll teach you to cast a spell when someone's back is turned!" Moody growled, swinging the ferret back and forth in the air.

"Professor Moody, what are you doing?" Professor McGonagall shrieked as she ran over to the ferret.

"Teaching," Moody hissed back.

"Is that a student?!" McGonagall cried.

"Technically it's a ferret," Moody replied. The battle continued for another minute or two, but eventually McGonagall stepped forward and flicked her wand. The ferret turned back into Malfoy, who wiped his face frantically as he jumped to his feet.

"My father will hear about this!" he shouted.

"Is that a threat?!" Moody yelled. As McGonagall scolded Moody for his actions, Harry glanced at Serena. She felt herself smile as she waved her hand and waved shyly at her best friend.

"Excuse me, Ced," she murmured as she walked over to where Harry stood. She hesitated a few feet away, staring down at the ground uncertainly. During the past four years she had been proud of the lack of fights in her friendships with Hermione, Ron and Harry. This year had been a complete hell so far.

"Sorry." Harry said quietly. Serena looked up, smiling slightly.

"Nah," she replied. "I'm sorry. I overreacted… it was really Ron's fault, not yours."

"Still," Harry insisted. "I _was_ kind of trying to make him jealous."

"Truce?" Serena held out her hand.

"No, absolutely not," Harry grinned as he pulled her into a tight hug.

"You," Moody grabbed Harry's shirt. Serena quickly released him, her cheeks heating up with embarrassment. "Come with me."

"Bye, Serena," Harry called over his shoulder as he walked away. She smiled after him before hurrying off to find Ron. One down, one to go.

Ron was standing by the staircase, reading through an issue of the Daily Prophet. Serena cleared her throat nosily until he glanced up, a familiar smirk on his face. "I'm sorry," they both said at the same time. She laughed and threw her arms around him, a relieved sigh escaping her throat

"Serena, I'm really…" Ron murmured into her shoulder. "I mean, I never…"

"Shut up," Serena advised. "Just shut up. This never happened. Understood?"

Ron grinned in reply.

…

"You're insane," Hermione hissed into Serena's ear as they tiptoed away from the Great Hall.

"Stay quiet," Serena whispered to her friend. "I just wanted to wish Harry and Cedric luck before the First Task begins."

"What if we get caught?"

"Then we'll tell them that I cursed you and you had no idea what was happening." Serena smiled as she neared the Champion's tent. As quietly as she could, she opened the flap. "Psssttt!" she hissed when she heard footsteps coming towards her. "Harry, is that you?"

"Yeah," Harry murmured back.

"How are you feeling? Okay?" Hermione asked. Harry didn't reply, so she went on. "Remember, the key is to concentrate. After that, all you need to do is-"

"Fight a dragon," Harry finished for her. Serena shivered at the thought of Harry battling a dragon. She knew that he was more than capable of taking care of himself, but he was still her best friend. And now that the Triwizard Championship had officially begun, she felt more afraid than ever for his safety. Suddenly, Hermione was pushing past Serena and hurrying inside of the tent. Serena watched in surprise as her two friends embraced each other tightly. Suddenly, a blinding flash filled Serena's eyes.

"Young love!" Rita Skeeter, a reporter for the Daily Prophet, squealed as she pulled down her camera. "How… stirring. If everything goes wrong today, you three might just end up on the front page."

"You have no business here," Viktor Krum growled to the reporter. "This tent is for champions and friends." Serena smiled at him gratefully.

"No matter," Rita smirked back. "We've got what we wanted." And with that, she left and Dumbledore took her place.

"Good day, champions," he said brightly. "Gather around, please." The Champions formed a tight circle around him, awaiting his speech anxiously. Serena inched forward and squeezed Harry's hand. "Now, you've waited, you've wondered, and at last the moment has arrived. The moment only four of you can truly appreciate- Miss Granger? Miss Abney?" Dumbledore's eyes narrowed as he looked down at Serena.

"Oh…" Serena stuttered. "I'll just um… go," She hesitantly let go of Harry's hand and raced out of the tent with Hermione.

"That went extraordinarily well," Hermione snorted.

"Oh, bite me," Serena growled. The two hurried towards the Hogwarts stadium, where they sat down between Fred and Ron.

"How was he?" Fred asked.

"Nervous," Serena replied shortly, staring at her knees. She didn't dare say more than a word at a time around Fred for the fear that she would sound like a bumbling idiot.

"Did he say what the first task would be like?" Fred pressed. Serena shook her head and focused on the ladybug crawling onto her arm. "Did he say… anything?" She responded by staring at the ends of her blonde ponytail and counting the split ends. Five. "Serena?"

"Dunno." She stared down at her new shoes, wincing as she tried to wiggle her big toe. Unfortunately it seemed as though she'd bought a size too small, as her feet felt like she had walked across the country barefoot.

"_Accio shoes_," Fred said suddenly. Serena's shoes flew off of her heels and into Fred's open hand. She opened her mouth to protest, but Fred placed a finger against her lips, as though to hush her. "You shouldn't wear shoes that hurt."

"Piss off," she rolled her navy eyes as though it didn't matter. But inside, her heart was racing. This boy, this _infuriating_ boy was now capable of reading her mind? Well, that was just lovely. Ron suddenly plopped down between them, as though he sensed the tension that had just emerged.

Cedric, Krum, and Fleur all did splendidly in their tasks, each rescuing their golden eggs from the dragons that guarded them without a single problem. But so far, it seemed as though Cedric was going to win the first round. Serena tilted her head as she stared out at the field, impatiently waiting for Harry's arrival.

"And now, our fourth champion," Dumbledore called to the crowd. "Harry James Potter!"

"Yeah, Harry!" Serena shouted as she jumped to her feet.

"Go, Harry!" Ron yelled.

"You're the greatest," she laughed, kissing Ron on the cheek.

"I said 'Go Harry' too," Fred pouted before pointing to the side of his face. Serena fought a blush.

"Oi, Serena, where are your shoes?" Ron suddenly asked her bare, red-painted toenails

"Ask that thing next to you," she snorted. Ron looked to Fred, who shrugged in reply.

Harry was rushing towards the golden egg that sat alone on the top of a pile of rocks. But the moment he reached for it, a large, yellow dragon flew down and shrieked loudly down at him.

"Harry, your wand!" Hermione cried. Harry glanced up at the crowd, frantically searching for the source of the sound.

"Your wand, Harry!" Serena began to jump up and down on her bare feet. "Get out your wand!" Harry turned his attention back to the dragon, whisking out his wand quickly. Moments later his broom flew into his open hand and he mounted it, flying up into the endless blue sky.

Unable to watch any longer, Serena closed her blue eyes and tried to take her mind off of the Triwizard Championship. But the only thing that popped to her mind was the conversation she and Hermione had shared with Harry the night before.

"Dragons," Harry had sputtered as he walked into the common room.

"No, we're girls," Serena answered, staring up at him innocently.

"No, I mean-" Harry collapsed onto the couch, breathing heavily. "Dragons, that's the first task. That's what was at Hagrid's."

"Okay," Hermione said slowly. "What're you going to do?"

"Dunno," Harry had mumbled. And Hermione, of course, had come up with the plan that Harry would follow through during the first task. Since he was so comfortable on a broomstick, she suggested that he summon it during the game, as he was only allowed his wand when he entered the stadium.

Suddenly, the entire stadium fell silent. "What?" Serena blurted out, looking around uncertainly.

"Harry's flown out of sight," Fred said nervously. "The dragon was right behind him."

She started biting her nails. Ron studied the ground beneath his feet. Hermione hugged her knees to her chest and started rocking back and forth. Ginny patted Hermione's shoulder, smacked Serena's wrist away from her mouth, and tilted Ron's chin up. "Come on, you guys," she said brightly. "He's going to be fine." When Ginny's back was turned, Serena went directly back to gnawing on her thumb nail. Someone tapped her hand again, but to her surprise, it wasn't Ginny.

"Stop worrying," Fred ordered. Serena slowly removed her nail from her mouth. Another moment passed before Fred finally moved his hand away.

Nearly a second later, Harry zoomed back into view. "YES!" Serena jumped to her feet and pumped her fists in the air. The dragon was nowhere to be found. Harry flew straight for the egg, and…

…

"Harry, Harry, Harry," the Gryffindors chanted Harry's name as Fred and George lifted Harry onto their shoulders. Harry held the golden egg he had retrieved high in the air, a broad grin plastered onto his face.

"We knew you wouldn't die, Harry." George grinned.

"Lose a leg," Fred added.

"Or an arm,"

"Pack it all together…"

"NEVER!" the two shouted at once. Serena laughed and clapped her hands together.

"Come on, Harry!" Seamus Finnegan exclaimed, pointing at the egg in Harry's hand. "What's in it?"

"Who wants me to open it?" Harry teased, raising the object over his head. The Gryffindor common room applauded in response, cheering as loud as they could. Harry swiftly snapped the golden egg apart. Out of it came a screech more horrific than any of them could've imagined. While everybody screamed and held their ears in pain, Harry snapped the egg shut once more.

"What the bloody hell was that?" Ron exclaimed from the doorway.

"Alright, everyone, get back to your knitting," Fred called out, breaking the awkward silence that followed Ron's arrival. "This is going to be uncomfortable enough without all your nosy sods listening in. Particularly yours." He grasped Serena's arm and began ushering her out of the room. She glanced back to see Ron smiling sheepishly at Harry. As Harry smiled back, she let out a relieved sigh. Everything was going to be okay.

"Hey!" she protested, shoving Fred away. "Lemme go."

"Afraid not," the boy replied with a grin. "There's something I need to give you."

"This isn't funny, really," Serena growled as he led her out of the common room. "Come on, Fred. I have to go see if those two made up."

"It's of your business," Fred replied shortly.

"Like hell it isn't!" she spat back. "They're my best friends."

"Ah," Fred stopped walking and stepped into her path. "Exactly why you need to give them a bit of space."

"Fine," Serena sighed after a moment. "I'm going back to my dorm then."

"Wait," Fred grabbed her shoulders firmly. "I told you that I have something for you."

"Okay," Serena crossed her arms in front of her chest and tapped her foot impatiently. Fred held up a finger to let her know he'd only be a moment, and then stepped back into the common room. He came back as quickly as he had left, holding his hands behind his back.

"Close your eyes," he ordered.

"Fred-"

"Close." He insisted. Knowing it would end faster if she complied, Serena quickly closed her dark blue eyes.

"They're closed."

"Hold out your hands." Fred directed. Letting out a sigh, she did so. She felt him brace the bottom of her cupped hands with his own and press something heavy into them. "Open."

"My kidnapped shoes!" she snapped sarcastically as she looked down. "Oh, Fred, thank you _so_ much."

"Try them on," Fred grinned.

"Uh, they're my shoes," Serena snorted. "I know what they feel like."

"Women," Fred shook his head in disgust and snatched the shoe from her hand. Dropping to his knees, he picked up her bare foot and slipped the shoe on. She stared down at his mop of red hair uncertainly. Then, she noticed it. Her shoes weren't pinching her feet at all. In fact, they fit perfectly. "I made them bigger, for your gorilla feet," Fred teased. "Wonderful charm- you'll learn it in your fifth year." He handed Serena the other shoe.

"Wow, um…" she tried. "T…Thanks. But uh, question?"

"Shoot," he plopped down in a nearby chair.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why did you do this for me?"

"Do I need a reason?" Fred shrugged.

"Yes." Serena raised an eyebrow, as though this should've been apparent.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why do I need a reason?"

"Well, because-" she paused. "Because…"

"Ever thought that maybe I did it out of the kindness in my heart?" Fred questioned, placing a hand on his chest. Serena rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, right," she snorted on her way back to the common room.

"I'm glad we could have this talk," Fred called after her.

"At least I warned you about the dragons," Serena heard Ron say as she entered the room.

"_Hagrid_ warned me about the dragons," Harry corrected him.

"Oh, no, no, I did," Ron protested. "Don't you remember? I told Hermione to tell you that Seamus told me that Parvati told Dean that Hagrid was looking for you. Seamus never actually told me anything, so it was really me all along. I thought you'd be alright, you know, after you figured that out."

"How could anyone figure that out?" Harry exclaimed. "That's completely mental."

"Yeah, it is, isn't it?" Ron grinned. "Suppose I was just a bit distraught." Serena shook her head, starting to laugh as she headed up the stairs to the girls' dorm.

"Boys," she grinned, turning to look at her best friends before heading in for the night.


	8. Yule Fools

_Thanks to Funkysam94 for the wonderful review. My updates will probably be a little bit slower, now. School starts up pretty soon, and I haven't even begun my AP US history assignment! Baha. Anyways, read and leave reviews._

_..._

**Chapter 8: Yule fools**

"I." Stab. "Hate." Stab. "Bologna!" Serena stabbed the sandwich on her plate repeatedly with a fork.

"I'll be sure to tell the cooks," Ron snorted.

"Parcel for you, Mr. Weasley!" a tiny voice sang from beside them. Serena looked up to see a small blonde boy carrying a brown box in his hand, staring intently at her.

"Thank you, Nigel," Ron nodded, taking the package out of the younger boy's hands. "See you."

"Hi," Nigel smiled bashfully at Serena.

"Hello." Serena smiled back, suppressing her laughter.

"Later, Nigel!" Ron hissed. The boy quickly ran away. Ron smiled at his friends sheepishly. "I promised him-"

"Promised what, Ronald?" Serena crossed her tan arms in front of her chest.

"Ah, it's nothing," he turned his attention to the package Nigel had delievered.

"It better be," she sighed.

"What's this? Oh, Mum's sent me something!" Ron spoke loudly, so the whole table would hear him. All eyes were on him as he opened the box and pulled out…

A frilly, ugly maroon robe.

"Mum's sent me a dress?" he shrieked.

"Well, it does match your eyes," Harry grinned.

"It's a shame, I would've loved to wear that one," Serena giggled.

"Is there a bonnet?" Harry searched the box. "Aha!" He pulled out a lacy white item with a black bow on it.

"Um, Ginny, this must be for you," Ron said quickly, holding the hideous clothing as far away as he possibly could

"I'm not wearing that," Ginny exclaimed from her spot next to Serena. "It's ghastly." Serena and Hermione began to laugh hysterically.

"What are you two on about?" Ron growled.

"It's not a dress," Hermione wiped the tears from her eyes. "And it's not for Ginny. They're dress robes. For you!" Fred and George snickered.

"But why?" Ron pondered.

Serena responded by throwing a piece of lettuce at his head and giggling, "Ronniekins, will you help me pick out a dress this weekend? You just have amazing style."

"Shut up," Ron growled.

…

A meeting for all students in Gryffindor aged third year and up was held after lunch in the ballroom. Boys and girls were directed to go to the opposite sides of the room.

"See you!" Serena waved goodbye to Harry, Ron, Fred and George.

"Every second without you will be a torture, my love, my Serena." Fred smiled gushingly up at her. Serena blinked.

"I didn't know we were playing charades!" George exclaimed. "Okay, I know this one…" He pumped his fist in the air. "You're Ronald Bilius Weasley!"

"Eighty points!" Fred yelled.

"Students, students!" Professor McGonagall strolled towards them, an irritated smile playing at her lips. "Sit down, if you please."

"I hate you both," Ron grumbled as he followed his brothers and Harry to the boy's side of the room. Hermione and Serena sat on the opposite side, watching as Professor McGonagall began to pace about the room.

"The Yule ball has been a tradition of the tri-wizard tournament since its inception." She paused to glare at them, a look Serena and Harry personally referred to as the 'glance of death'. "On Christmas eve night, we and our guests shall gather in the great hall for well-mannered frivolity. As representatives of the host school, I expect each and every one of you to put your best foot forward; and I mean this literally, because the Yule ball is first and foremost a dance."

Ron and Harry let out a defeated moan. Serena's entire face lit up. A dance? At Hogwarts? With dresses and dates and romance, oh my? _Finally!_

"Silence." McGonagall ordered as she began to pace the room once more. "The house of Godrick Griffindore has commanded the respect of the wizard world for nearly ten centuries. I will not have you in the course of a single evening besmirch that name by behaving like a babbling, bumbling band of baboons."

"Try saying that five times fast," Fred hissed to Serena from across the room.

"Now, to dance is to let the body breathe. Inside every girl is a secret slumbering swan, longing to be awakened and set free. Inside every boy, a lordly lion ready to prance." The professor stopped walking in front of Ron. "Mr. Weasley, would you please join me?" McGonagall pulled Ron to his feet and towards the middle of the dance floor.

"What's going on?" Serena whispered to Hermione.

"I dunno." Hermione's expression was a mixture of shock and amusement.

"Mr. Weasley, please put your hand on my waist." Professor McGonagall directed.

"Your _what_?" Ron's eyes widened.

"My waist," McGonagall repeated. Ron hesitantly did so, receiving a wolf whistle from George. Serena snickered into her palm. "Now, bend your arm." Mr. Filch started up the music and McGonagall began to lead Ron in a waltz. He glanced up at Serena, blushing up to his ears. "One two three, one two three," McGonagall counted the steps. "Everyone come together!"

Not a single person stood. Serena laughed and leapt up from her seat, prancing to the other side of the room. She placed her hands on her hips and scanned the boys for her victim. Finally, she paused in front of Harry and, with an evil grin, pulled him to his feet. "Hey!" Harry protested. Serena rolled her eyes as he jerked away and sat back down, blushing.

"Anyone?" she twirled in another circle, lifting her arms over her head and snapping to the extremely slow beat. After a long moment, Neville Longbottom jumped up. "Ah, thank you, Neville!" Serena grinned and took his hand, leading him out to the middle of the dance floor. Not to be outdone by Neville, the rest of the boys jumped up and began searching for dance partners.

Serena excused herself from Neville and hurried over to Harry. "I'm never going to let Ron live this down," Harry grinned as he placed a hand on her waist.

"Never," Serena agreed.

He dipped her low, then scooped her back up and twirled her around by her hand. But Serena lost her balance and stumbled backwards out of Harry's grasp. She finally collapsed into the chest of a tall, lanky boy. "Oi!" the boy exclaimed. Serena froze still. She looked up to find Fred Weasley looking down at her uncertainly, his hands clasped onto her shoulders.

"Miss Abney, Mr. Weasley!" McGonagall clapped her hands. "The point of this ball is not to stand around and stare at each other like a group of frightened kittens. Dance!" Serena and Fred quickly straightened up. As she took his hand and they began to dance, she felt a strange calm spread over her.

"Not half bad," she grinned up at him.

"I can't say the same for you, gorilla feet- hey, watch it!" Fred twisted around as Seamus Finnegan accidentally slammed into his back. As he released Serena, her balance gave out and she began to fall down to the ground. But just as she thought she was going to hit the floor, Fred's strong arms caught her. She immediately grasped onto him, as though it was an instinct.

"Lovely," McGonagall clapped her hands. The students stopped dancing and turned towards her. Fred quickly straightened up and pulled Serena to her feet, blushing up to his ears. "Well, you all seem to have a good idea of what dancing is about. Class dismissed. Remember, Christmas Eve is next Saturday!"

Serena twisted herself away from Fred and hurried to the other side of the room to retrieve her books. She gathered her long blonde waves together and flipped them over her shoulder so no one could see her burning face as she headed back to her dorm.

"Want to go study out by the lake?" Hermione questioned as she stepped beside Serena.

"Yeah," Serena nodded. It would take her mind off of things. The two walked to Hagrid's hut, settled down by the water and took out their books. As she was studying, a burst of giggles broke through her thoughts. She and Hermione glanced up to see Viktor Krum, running while a mixed group of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff girls followed him. Viktor looked over at Hermione and winked.

Hermione smiled back, a light flush filling up her cheeks. "Hey, Viktor!" Serena slammed her book closed and jumped to her feet.

"Serena, what're you doing?" Hermione hissed.

"See you later, ladies!" Serena smiled to the girls trailing behind Viktor as she linked arms with him and pulled him away. "Now Viktor, darling, I have a proposition for you…"

…

"I can't believe he asked me to the ball," Hermione sighed dreamily during potions later that day.

"You're welcome," Serena giggled.

"Normally, I'd smack you silly for that." Hermione glanced over her shoulder to make sure nobody was listening. "But I'm so ridiculously happy that I'll choose to ignore it."

"We're never going to find dates," Ron grumbled from his seat beside Serena.

"It might interest you to know that Neville's already gotten someone," she piped up.

"Now I'm really depressed," he said sadly. Suddenly, a piece of paper flew out of nowhere and hit him on the head. Ron read it quickly and cleared his throat. "Hey, Hermione, Serena. You're… girls."

"Well spotted, Ronald." Hermione snarled.

"I knew he'd learn someday!" Serena smiled brightly. "I've never been so proud of you, Ronald."

"Come on," Ron exclaimed. "It's one thing for a bloke to show up alone. For a girl, it's just sad."

"Were you listening to a word I said earlier?" Hermione spat.

"Yeah, yeah! 'Course I was." Ron's face turned red.

"Obviously not, because if you had-" Hermione paused to gather her belongings. "You'd know that somebody has already asked me."

"Bloody hell!" Ron exclaimed as she stomped out of the room. "Well, no matter. Serena? Ow!" Another note hit him in the forehead. He glared at Fred, who had obviously thrown it, and read.

**Not Serena! I'm asking her tonight.**

Ron jerked the quill out of Serena's hands. "I was using that," Serena whined.

"Hang on," Ron mumbled as he scribbled a reply.

**You should've made a move while you had a chance. Idiot.**

He chucked his response at his brother's head and turned back to Serena. "So, why don't you come with one of us?"

"Er," Serena blushed. Fred coughed lately from the end of the table and slammed his fist down as hard as he could. She turned to face him. "Are you alright, Fred?"

"He has a case of moronitis," Ron said hurriedly. "Anywho, will you?"

"I mean, if you want, that is," Harry added.

At that moment, Snape passed by and held out a hand to Serena. She slowly handed him her potions book. He picked it up and smacked both Ron and Harry on the head with it before walking away.

"That was lovely," Harry muttered, glancing uncertainly in Serena's direction.

"Why don't you two go together?" Ron offered. Fred began coughing again.

"I- I dunno," Serena replied quickly, picking up her things. "I'm not really sure if I want to go yet." She paused, searching her brain for an excuse. "Listen, um, I need to go, but I'll get back to you later tonight, okay Harry?" And with that, she was gone. Ron let out a frustrated sigh and turned back to talk to Harry, but another note hit him in the head.

**What did she say?**

**She said you smell like feet**, Ron scribbled back.

…

Serena stood silently in the owlry, stroking Lana's black feathers, feeling very confused indeed. This was a bit of a predicament. Harry was her best friend, and she loved him dearly. And it would be nice to have a date to the ball, but she'd been hoping-no, _praying_, that maybe-

"Oh, hello Serena," a female voice called. Serena glanced up to find Cho Chang smiling nervously at her from the other side of the owlry.

"Hey, Cho. Great Quidditch the other day!"

"Thanks," Cho laughed. "You too. I'm sure Oliver must be proud to have you as keeper."

"I hope he is," Serena chuckled. The two stood in an awkward silence for a few moments while Cho tied something to her owl's leg.

"Well," she said uncertainly. "I'll see you later."

"Bye!" Serena replied cheerfully. She watched Cho walk out the door just as Harry stepped in. Serena's navy eyes widened as she watched Harry blush the moment he saw Cho. Why hadn't she noticed before?

"Hello, Harry," Cho said shyly as she pushed past him and walked off into the snow. Harry stared after her for a long moment before turning towards Serena, who was still petting Lana.

"Hey, Serena." He walked beside her and stared down at Lana, who was chirping happily.

"Harry, Harry, Harry," Serena scolded, turning her attention towards him.

"What?"

"You like her!"

"Like… who? Lana?" Harry turned towards the black owl. "Well, yes, she's quite nice, but-"

"Not Lana," Serena laughed, punching Harry lightly on the arm. "Cho!"

"What?" His face turned red once more. "I-I don't… I mean…"

"Ask her to the ball," Serena insisted, petting Lana's black head again. "I mean it, you should give it a try."

"But I thought-"

"If you like her, then go for it!"

"Serena, hang on, I thought that-"

"You're welcome for the advice." Serena hurried away from him and towards the door. "I'd better get going. Good luck!"

"…Yeah. Thanks, Serena." Harry sighed.

"There you are, again!" a voice called out. Serena twisted around until she found the source. "It's funny how we keep bumping into each other like this.

"More like it's funny how you keep stalking me, Fred," she grumbled.

"Well, you'd think you could move faster with those gorilla feet of yours." Fred bounded towards her, pushing his floppy red hair out of his eyes.

"Did you come here to annoy me, or is there something you'd like to say?" Serena crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"Actually, I was wondering if you…" He cleared his throat. "If you wanted to go to the ball with me?"

"Oh. Oh, wow." Serena blinked. Her body warmed up all the way down to her toes, despite the snowflakes falling onto her golden blonde head. Suddenly, she started to laugh.

"Is that a yes, then?" Fred grinned.

"I suppose you could say that," she said slyly before flicking his freckle-covered nose and walking away. Fred watched in earnest, hesitating before speaking again.

"So I'll meet you in the common room around 6:30?" he called. She glanced over her shoulder and nodded, grinning brightly.

Serena made her way towards the common room, the adrenaline pumping through her body. She hadn't felt like this since she ran six straight miles in a row. Finally she reached the painting of the fat lady and hurried inside, only to find a shaking Ron sitting beside Ginny, Harry, and Hermione. "Whoa, you alright?" Serena exclaimed, sitting on the couch next to her friend.

"He asked Fleur Delacour to the ball," Ginny blurted out.

"What?" Serena exclaimed. "Well, what did she say, Ron?"

"No, of course," Hermione snorted. Ron slowly shook his head. "She said _yes_?"

"Don't be silly," Harry snorted.

"Some friends you are," Serena muttered.

"There she was, just walking by," Ron whimpered. "You know I like it when they walk." Serena opened her mouth and pointed her index finger towards the back of her tongue, making a gagging sound. "I couldn't help it; it just sort of slipped out."

"Actually, he sort of screamed it at her," Ginny was suppressing a giggle. "It was rather frightening."

"What did you do then?" Serena questioned.

"What else could I do?" Ron exclaimed. "I made a run for it."

"Hey, speaking of the ball," Harry turned to Serena. "So, er, would you like to go with me?"

"I'm really sorry," Serena glanced down at her feet. "But I kind of already have a date. That's why I was so um… hesitant at lunch."

"Oh, that's fine," Harry replied quickly. Ron's jaw dropped.

"Wait, who asked you?" he demanded.

"S-Sorry," Serena mumbled, ignoring Ron's question. Because actually, she wasn't sorry at all.

In fact, she was happier than she had been in a long, long time.


	9. A night to remember

_Yay, reviews! Curiositykillsfelines, alexlee4samjeane and rockinnano deserve cookies. And here you go, the Yule Ball scene!_

_..._

**Chapter 9: A night to remember**

Serena stared into the mirror that stood next to her bedside table. She grimaced at her own reflection and stuck her tongue out. "Ugly," she mumbled.

"You look gorgeous," someone scolded as they came up behind her. Serena turned around and smiled.

"Thanks, Hermione," she sighed. "But you're much prettier."

"Absolutely not." Hermione blushed, smoothing down her pink, floor-length ball gown. Serena automatically reached forward to brush her best friend's hair down, but it seemed as though there was no need. Hermione's normally bushy, frizzy brown hair was smooth and curly, pulled into a half up-do and fastened with a silver clip.

"You do look stunning, Serena," Ginny said brightly as she pranced over towards the mirror. "You _both_ do." Serena glanced over Ginny's new dress. It was a strapless, dark blue number cinched by a white ribbon tied around her waist.

"Are you enjoying your early Christmas present?" Serena teased.

"I love it," Ginny blushed. Serena let out a shaky, nervous sigh and turned away from the mirror, unable to look at her own reflection any longer. It was much too late now for any alterations, anyways.

"Well then…" She reached forward and took each of her friend's hands. "Let's break some hearts.

…

Harry glanced at his watch for the tenth time that evening. "Will you stop it?" Ron hissed.

"Sorry." Harry turned away, avoiding staring at Ron's robes.

"It's that awful, isn't it?" Fred snickered into Harry's ear.

"What?" Harry blinked. "Oh, well, erm-"

"I smell like my Great Aunt Tessie," Ron wailed. "Murder me, Harry."

"Not tonight, boys," Serena's laugh sounded out from the staircase. Harry immediately twisted around to face his best friend.

"…Your hair," he sputtered after several long moments of silence as he stared at Serena's curly, blonde updo.

"My hair?" Serena's dark blue eyes narrowed.

"What's wrong with her hair?" Ron said defensively. "I think it's nice."

"Er-yeah, it's nice," Harry mumbled. "As far as hair goes."

"Serena, come on," Fred laughed. "Or would you rather listen to these two idiots blab on about your hair all night?"

"It's rather entertaining, if you'd like to know the truth," Serena giggled.

"Well, hurry along." Fred glanced towards the common room door. "We'll be late if you don't, and I don't want to have to end this in violence."

"Violence!" Serena squeaked. "What'll you do, punish my arse?"

Fred blinked. "Well, yes. That was the general idea." Harry watched as Serena bounded down the staircase and took Fred's arm. Her pretty, rose-colored dress swayed around her delicate ankles as she twisted around to smile at Harry and Ron.

"Bye, Harry," she giggled. "Bye, Ron! I'll see you on the dance floor!"

"Well, she looked nice," Ron smiled towards Harry. Harry stayed silent. "Harry?" Ron nudged his friend's arm.

"Yeah," Harry managed. "She looked wonderful."

"Mate, are you alright?" Ron stepped forward cautiously. "You've turned a nasty shade of white."

Harry went quiet once more. He had no idea what to say.

Or perhaps, maybe he did and he just didn't know how to say it.

…

Serena smiled shyly as she and Fred walked down the staircase. He looked adorable in his robes, which, unlike Ron's, were a normal shade of black and white. Don't you look handsome?" she teased as they made their way into the ballroom. Fred looked over and smiled his cute boyish grin.

"You too," he said. Serena giggled softly into her palm as his smile immediately faded. "I-I mean pretty. You look really, really pretty."

"Thanks," she smiled. Fred hesitated before entering the door to the Great Hall.

"Oh, hang on." He reached into a pocket inside of his dress robes and fished out a pretty white rose. "For you, m'lady." He grinned sarcastically as he dropped to one knee and handed her the flower.

"Thank you!" Serena squeaked in surprise. "Oh, that's so thoughtful, I…" She broke off and hastily took the flower, tucking it behind one ear. "Thank you." Fred straightened up and held his elbow out to her once more. She took his arm and the two hurried into the Great Hall. Serena had seen many extraordinary things in her years at Hogwarts, but nothing could possibly amount to this.

The normally plain white room was an icy blue paradise, just as lovely and snowy as the world outside of the castle. Most of the students were clustered into tight circles, mingling and laughing with each other. It seemed as nearly everybody had arrived, yet no music was playing. Serena spotted Ginny across the room and hurried over, Fred following at her heels. "What's going on?" Serena whispered.

"We have to wait for the champions," Ginny hissed back. "They always dance first." Serena was about to ask how long the wait would be when suddenly the doors burst open. Students rushed to either side of the room, making a path for the champions to walk through.

Fleur Delacour entered first, smiling brightly from the arm of a seventh-year Ravenclaw boy Serena didn't know. Next was Cedric, who was escorting Cho Chang. "Cho!" Serena gasped.

"Yeah," Fred glanced in her direction. "You didn't know?"

"No," Serena murmured. "I thought maybe she was going with Harry." She stared as Viktor entered with Hermione, wondering who Harry could've possibly come with.

"Doesn't she look incredible?" Ginny sighed.

"Completely gorgeous," Serena smiled.

"I've seen prettier tonight," Fred hissed, so that Ginny couldn't hear. Serena's cheeks flushed as she glanced towards the floor.

"Is that Hermione Granger with Viktor Krum?" Ron's date, Padma Patil, suddenly hissed.

"No," Ron replied shortly. "Absolutely not."

"She looks beautiful," another girl breathed. Ron let out an irritated sigh. Harry stepped in next with Parvati Patil, staring at the floor as he walked.

"He came with Parvati?" Serena's navy blue eyes widened.

"Well, yeah," Ron glanced at her. "You didn't know?"

"No!" Serena stomped her foot, nearly falling over in her gold-colored high-heeled shoes.

Once Harry and Parvati joined the other champions and their dates on the dance floor, Mr. Filch started the music. The dance went very well, not a single move was flawed. After the first minute, McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore joined in. Several other couples followed their lead.

"Come on," Serena tugged Fred's hand, leading him out to the dance floor. He sighed, as though it was a huge imposition that he was being forced to dance.

"You owe me," he grumbled. She giggled as he took her in his arms and spun her in a wide circle that hardly met the beat of the current music.

Three songs later, Harry stepped forward and tapped on Fred's arm. "That time already?" Fred glanced at his bare wrist, as though checking a watch.

"Sorry," Harry murmured. "I was only hoping for one dance-"

"All yours." Fred cut him off and gently released Serena.

"How's it going with Parvati?" Serena whispered softly as they walked away from Fred. Harry rolled his eyes and snorted. "That bad, huh?"

"What about you?" Harry asked. "Having a good time?"

"Surprisingly, yes," she chuckled. "He's… different."

"What kind of different?" Harry provoked. Serena blinked. He certainly got right to the point.

"Dunno," she answered after a moment. "I'm just having a very nice time, that's all. I-"

"Really like him?" Harry finished for her. Her cheeks flushed and she looked towards the floor. "At least one of us is having a nice time."

"Sorry, Harry," she mumbled, leaning her blonde head against his shoulder.

"Well, at least I'll have this to remember." He let go of her hand and hugged her tightly. "Right?"

"Right," she laughed, relieved the subject was now off of her.

As the song ended, Serena heard somebody coughing loudly a few feet away. She glanced over her shoulder at Cedric, who was smiling meekly at her. "I'll see you later," Harry murmured, squeezing her waist one last time.

"Hi," she mumbled as Harry walked away.

"Hey," Cedric replied. "Would you like to-" He was cut off by the loud screeching of a guitar chord. The entire room looked up at the same time to find a group of black-haired girls standing on the stage, holding instruments in their gloved hands.

"The Weird Sisters!" George shrieked like a teenage girl from across the room.

"Hey-lo Hogwarts!" the lead singer screamed. "Let's get some real music in here, huh?" The room started dancing again as the Weird Sisters began to play a fast, hard rock song.

"Aw," Serena sighed, trying to fake disappointment. "What awful timing…"

"Yeah." Cedric's smile flatlined.

"Maybe later," Serena smiled cheerfully. She waved over her shoulder and hurried over to where Fred sat on the other side of the room.

"Hey," Fred shouted over the noise of the music. She pranced closer to him and took his hands in her own.

"Come on, let's dance," she laughed. "I love this song."

"Me too," he grinned, allowing her to pull him to his feet. The two ran towards the dance floor.

"Remember when we were such fools, and so convinced and just too cool?" Serena sang the lyrics of the song into an imaginary microphone.

"Oh no, no no," Fred replied in a high, girly voice.

Serena laughed as the Weird Sisters sang on. She shimmied a little closer to Fred, twisting her body around to the sound of the beat. "Dance!" she shouted at Fred, flipping her long blonde hair behind her shoulders.

"I can't dance," he snorted. "I'm awful at it."

"Well, it can't be any worse than your Quidditch playing." She flicked his nose playfully.

"Well, alright," he grinned. "But just remember that you asked for it." He began jerking around like a robot, moving his arms and legs in short, slow motions. Serena burst out laughing.

"What're you doing?!"

"Knitting a quilt. What does it look like I'm doing?!"

"You're insane!" She sighed as the song ended.

"That was nice," Fred murmured.

"Hey, look!" Serena pointed at Ron, Harry and Hermione, who stood a few feet away. "Excuse me for just a moment?"

"Of course, of course," Fred waved her on. She hurried off towards Hermione, Harry and Ron, who glanced at her warily.

"Hey, guys," Serena said brightly.

"It's hot, isn't it?" Hermione smiled back. "Viktor's gone to get drinks." She turned to the boys. "Care to join us?"

"No, we'd NOT care to join you and Viktor." Ron scowled.

"What's got your wand in a knot?" Hermione exclaimed.

"He's a Durmstrang," Ron growled. "You're fraternizing with the enemy!"

"Please," Serena snorted. "The enemy?"

"He's a threat to our school!" Ron glared at her.

"If he was such a threat, I wouldn't have told him to ask 'Mione to the ball." Serena snapped.

"And wasn't it you wanting his autograph?" Hermione added. "Besides, the whole point of this tournament is international cooperation; to make friends."

"I think he's got a bit more than friendship on his mind," Ron said bitterly. Hermione stormed away without another word. He turned back to Serena. "I can't believe you'd set her up with an arse like that!"

"Ronald Weasley," Serena hissed. "You-"

"And you're no better!" Ron spat. "You and Fred are out there practically snogging away." Serena's blue eyes began to sting with hot, angry tears.

"Ron," Harry whispered. "Stop."

"What, your best friends weren't good enough to be taken as dates?" Ron went on. "It's odd enough seeing my brother here with a girl at all, let alone you." Serena stomped her foot in frustration.

"Ron," she choked out. "I know you're ridiculously in love with Hermione, but it isn't my fault you didn't take a chance when you had it. And don't you dare tell me what a best friend should and shouldn't do. As far as I'm concerned, we aren't friends at _all_, let alone more than that."

Serena stormed into the girl's bathroom and stared at herself in the mirror. If she kept the tears up, her mascara was going to smudge. She let out a shaky sigh as the last tear fell, wiped her eyes, and waited for the redness to fade. Fred was just outside. They could dance for the rest of the night, then go back to the common room and goof off like they always did. She turned on her heel and walked out the door.

"Hey," Fred called out as she entered the ballroom. She smiled and waved back. "Listen, I saw you run off earlier. Are you okay?"

"Oh, yeah, uh, fine," Serena murmured, her smile fading.

"Harry told me what Ron said."

"Oh," she glanced down.

"It wasn't your fault," Fred laughed. "Don't look so upset."

"But I never fight with Ron," she mumbled.

"Hey, let's play a game." Fred reached down and took her hand in his own.

"A… game?" Serena stared up at him, her face flushing the moment he touched her.

"I'll pretend to be Ron," Fred said. "And you'll tell me exactly what you want to tell him right now."

"Alright." Serena giggled, unable to hold back her smile.

"Hullo, Serena," Fred spoke in a high-pitched voice. "My name is Ronald Weasley. Please take me back; you're my best friend in the world."

"No, Ron. You're a bum."

"Good girl." Fred reached up and patted her head. "Let's dance."

He certainly knew how to cheer her up.

…

"Night, Katie," Serena laughed as she continued up the stairway to the Gryffindor common room. "G'night, Cho!"

"See you tomorrow!"

"Happy Christmas!"

"Ugh, my head hurts."

"Fourty-four bottles of butter beer on the wall," Fred and Serena sang in unison, hopping up the stairs two at a time. "Fourty-four bottles of beer. Y'take one down, pass it around, forty-three bottles of butter beer on the wall."

"After you, dearest," Fred said goofily as he held open the common room door. Serena smiled as she entered. The Christmas tree had been set up in the middle of the room and the fire was a blazing orange color.

"Pretty," she breathed. After that, she wasn't quite sure what to do. What was the appropriate way to say goodnight?

"That was a lot of fun," Fred said uncertainly. They both laughed at the awkward pause that followed.

"Well, um, thanks," Serena glanced up at him, but Fred was no longer looking at her. Instead, he was staring at the ceiling.

"Mistletoe," he said quietly, pointing at the green plant that hung above them. She stared back down at the floor beneath his feet. When she looked up again, Fred was leaning forward. Serena's cheeks flushed as they moved closer and closer still, until their mouths were only an inch apart.

His lips just barely brushed hers as the door slammed open. The two jerked away from each other. Serena looked to the door to find a sobbing Hermione with black mascara running down her face. "Hermione!" Serena exclaimed, rushing forward. "What happened?"

"Ronald's s-such a s-s-stupid arse!" Hermione wailed. Serena pulled her sister into a tight hug and began to lead her towards the girl's dorm. "Oh, Serena-"

As Hermione sobbed on, Serena glanced over her shoulder at Fred. "I'll see you tomorrow," she mouthed. He nodded, stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked back up at the mistletoe. Serena felt terrible. Her perfect kiss had just been ruined.

"Talk to me," Serena directed Hermione, plopping down on her bed and patting the space next to her. Hermione sat down and wiped her brown eyes.

"Ron started s-saying Viktor was 'using me'," she whimpered after a deep breath. "So I told him the next time there's a ball that he should just get up the courage to ask me."

"Well, good," Serena laughed. "Somebody needed to tell him." Hermione managed a tiny smile.

"And he just… ruins _everything_!" she sighed. "I can't stand it anymore."

"He's jealous," Serena replied softly. "And he's a boy. A very confused boy. Give it time." Hermione nodded and wrapped her arms around Serena's waist.

"You're the best."

"It's what I do." Serena shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. Hermione climbed into her own bed and soon enough she fell asleep. It was already three in the morning, but Serena still couldn't sleep. She didn't really even want to try.

Besides, all she would dream about was a certain redheaded boy and his ridiculously cute smile.


	10. A gift beyond her wildest dreams

_Thanks to patriotgirlgirl101 and curiositykillsfelines for the review. Love love love you guys! :] Please R&R._

_..._

**Chapter 10: A gift beyond her wildest dreams**

"Happy Christmas, you lazy bug!" Hermione called out cheerfully.

"Happy Christmas," Serena laughed as she pulled on her light green sweater.

"Your present is under the tree," Hermione said excitedly as she hurried down the staircase. Serena pulled her long blonde hair into a quick ponytail and finished getting dressed. She took in one long, calming gulp of oxygen before finally making her way down to the common room.

"Happy Christmas!" Harry shouted as Serena came down the stairs. She giggled and tossed her lithe arms around his neck.

"Happy Christmas, Harry," she said quietly, leaning her head against his warm, familiar shoulder.

"Here's your present, by the way." He released her and pulled a small, silver box out of his jeans pocket.

"Oh!" Serena's entire face lit up. "Harry, you didn't have to do that. Thank you. Yours is under the tree."

"Yeah, I opened it," Harry grinned brightly. "It's great." Serena smiled back, happy to know she'd done well choosing Harry's gift: a leather wand case with the Gryffindor colors running in stripes down the side.

"I thought it could keep your wand safe during the tasks."

"Definitely," Harry grinned, leaning down to kiss her lightly on the cheek. "See you at the feast?"

"Yeah, see you!" Serena waved at his retreating figure. But before she could make her way to the tall, gangly redhead that was staring at her from across the room, Hermione bounded into view.

"I got our presents," she said excitedly. "Mum and Dad sent you a big one. Come on, let's open them!"

"Uh, sure," Serena sighed, tearing her gaze away from Fred. She and Hermione plopped down on the couch next to Katie.

"Open this one," Hermione pointed to the large parcel her parents had sent Serena. Serena quickly tore the wrapping paper off the gift, her heart thumping wildly at the possibility of what it could be.

"Blimey!" Ron exclaimed from across the room. "It's a Firebolt!" Serena's entire body hummed as she ran her hand along the smooth wood of the broomstick. Everyone began to crowd around her, all shouting at once.

"Just like Harry's!"

"Now we've got two Firebolts on our team! We'll be unstoppable next year!"

"Come on, Serena, take it for a spin!" George clasped his hand onto Serena's arm. She grinned at her friends and hurried outside, giggling at the stomping sounds of feet that followed her. The moment her feet hit the ice-cold snow, she lifted her leg over the broom, kicked off of the ground and zoomed into the sky.

"Atta girl, Serena!" Katie Bell shouted. Serena laughed at the emotion that was filling her body. It was the same ridiculous feeling she got whenever she and Fred touched. One of pure joy. The feeling she could do anything.

She landed back on the ground a few moments later. A few people from the crowd gazed at her broomstick for awhile longer, but most headed inside, complaining of the cold. Serena was freezing, but she refused to leave just yet.

"What's it like?" a gentle voice asked. She warmed up all the way to her toes at the sound of the voice. Her navy eyes lifted to meet his own.

"Amazing, Fred," she grinned.

"Mind if I give it a fly?" he questioned.

"Not at all." Serena brushed the snow off of her blue jeans and handed him the Firebolt. Their hands brushed slightly as he took it.

"Oh- sorry," Fred murmured as he pulled his arm away. He quickly mounted the broomstick and lifted his feet off the ground. But instead of flying forward, he zoomed backwards, forcing Serena to slip on the back of the Firebolt.

"Hey!" she exclaimed. "Fred, what're you going to-" With a wicked grin, Fred flew forwards at full speed. Serena yelped, throwing her arms around his waist and burying her face in his back.

"Why are you so terrified of flying?" he laughed.

"I'm not terrified of flying," she answered defensively, glancing up from his back. "I'm terrified of your flying skills."

"Understandable," he admitted with a defeated chuckle. Serena stared out at the lake before her, admiring the bright pink shade the sky was turning.

"Isn't it lovely?" she breathed, tightening her grasp on his waist as he began to float towards the ground. He stepped off of the broom and held his hand out to her. She hesitantly took it and jumped down, still gazing at the iced-over water in front of her.

"Let's go visit Hagrid," Fred said suddenly.

"What?" Serena turned to face him, her smooth brow crinkling in confusion.

"It'll be fun. I'll race you!" He took off without another word.

"No fair!" she shrieked as she chased after him.

"It's completely fair," he shouted over his shoulder.

"Well, I still won't be outdone by some redhead loser of a sixth year. Even if you did cheat."

"That hurts, Serena," Fred grinned. Serena rolled her eyes and prepared to reply, but her mouth was filled with snow. Everything was a bright shade of white. It took her a moment to realize she'd tripped and landed face-down in the snow.

"Ow," she grumbled to herself.

"Serena, are you alright?" Fred's frantic voice reached her ears. He shook her shoulder gently. "Say something." At that moment, her navy-colored eyes snapped open and she grabbed his arm to pull him down into the snow.

"Gotcha!" She laughed hysterically and jumped to her feet, leaving him behind. Fred was on his feet and chasing after her within the next second. With a mighty leap, he grabbed Serena by the waist and pulled her down into the snow with him. She pulled herself up and pinned him down to the snow by his arms.

"I win," she said breathlessly.

"I suppose you do," Fred smiled meekly. "But what do you win, exactly?

Serena couldn't speak. She couldn't breathe. Their faces were much too close together. She noticed strange things she never had before, like the way his eyes were almost grey or the random freckles that had appeared along his nose and cheeks. She forced herself to her feet and brushed the snow off of her clothes. With shaking legs, she began to walk towards Hagrid's hut.

"Where are you going?" Fred asked, puzzled.

"Hagrid's," she answered, turning to face him. "I thought that we were going to visit?"

"Oh-" He quickly stood up and followed after her. "Right, Hagrid's house."

"Wait a second." Serena stepped closer towards him, fighting the smile that was making its way onto her face. "You were never planning to go to Hagrid's at all, were you?"

"No. Not really." Fred closed the space between them and gently pressed his lips against hers.

"I was wondering when you'd do that," she murmured as he pulled away. He let out a chuckle and brushed back a strand of blonde hair that had escaped her ponytail.

"You've no idea how long I've wanted to." As Fred kissed her again, Serena realized that there was no need to say anything else.

He understood perfectly.

…

"Happy new year!" Serena laughed, tossing her arms around Harry's neck.

"You too," he mumbled in response. Her smile faded as he half-heartedly hugged her back. Harry had been in a bad mood for days now and had offered no explanation why.

"Excuse me for a bit, will you?" She pulled away and ruffled his black hair. "I'm off to find my boyfriend." Her entire body tingled when she said the word. _Boyfriend_.

"Yeah," Harry sighed. "See you." Serena kissed him lightly on the cheek and twisted around to find Fred. Instead she came face to face with Ronald Weasley.

"You look like a mess," she spat.

"I deserved that," Ron winced. Serena pushed passed him, still not ready to forgive him for what he'd done to Hermione. He caught her arm and pulled her back. "Wait. Serena, I'm sorry." Serena closed her blue eyes and fought back her smile.

"For?"

"Being a jerk. Being a jealous jerk." He stared at his toes. Serena rolled her eyes, turned around and hugged him tightly.

"Forgiven," she whispered. They parted and he kissed her delicately on the cheek.

"Well, go on, then," he grinned. "Snog my brother for the rest of the night. I promise to be good."

"Happy new year!" she laughed, hurrying towards the familiar figure that waited by the fireplace.

"Where've you been?" Fred exclaimed as Serena ran into his open arms.

"Crazy," she giggled, snuggling into his shoulder.

"Not a long trip."

"That wasn't nice."

"I'm right there with you, don't worry,"

"Just shut up and kiss me." Serena rolled her eyes and tightened her grasp around his neck. Fred complied without any argument.

January passed in the blink of an eye. And then it was February and finally March. Before Serena knew it, the day of the third task was on her doorstep. She sighed from her spot beside Harry and glanced up at the bright blue sky.

"I wonder what the next task is," she murmured.

"Who knows?" Hermione shrugged, glancing in Harry's direction. "Maybe it has something to do with the egg?"

"Really?" Harry glanced up. "I had no idea. I suppose Viktor's already figured it out." Serena counted the leaves on the tree above her head while Hermione blushed and blabbed on about how Viktor was a 'physical being'.

She'd counted exactly thirty-seven leaves when a familiar voice shouted, "Hey, Potter!" Cedric Diggory came into view, waving excitedly at Harry. Serena's cheeks turned a crimson shade and she turned her head away, embarrassed. She hadn't spoken to Cedric since she and Fred had first kissed, aside from an occasional, "Hi," or "Excuse me" when he'd 'accidentally' bump into her in the hallway.

"Cedric," Harry greeted the other boy. Cedric waved his hand again, as though signaling for Harry to come closer. Giving Hermione and Serena a shrug, Harry walked off.

"How are things?" Hermione questioned once Harry was gone.

"Lovely," Serena grinned back. "You?"

"Lovely," Hermione giggled, watching Harry as he disappeared from sight. "Well, I suppose we should head back to the common room."

"Yeah," Serena agreed. As she made her way up the hill to the castle, she secretly hoped she'd catch a glimpse of Harry. But he was already gone.

…

"Hey, you," Fred greeted Serena as she entered the Gryffindor common room.

"Hey, stranger," she replied. He grinned and patted the couch next to him, as though beckoning her to come over. She flopped onto the couch beside him, moving closer as he slipped an arm around her shoulders. Hermione had made an excuse to 'go to the nurse' before they'd made it into the common room. Serena knew she was off to see Viktor, but Hermione was much too shy to explain that. She'd never admit it, not even to her best friend.

Serena's worries melted away as Fred squeezed her shoulders and leaned over to kiss the top of her head. "How was your day?" he asked brightly.

"Great," she laughed softly, snuggling against him. "And yours?"

"Hideously boring," he mumbled into her blonde hair. "Enough about me, why don't you explain why you're so stressed out?" She groaned and opened her blue eyes. How did he always know?

"Nothing."

"You're a horrible liar, Serena."

"Harry," she admitted. Fred's body stiffened at the name. "The second task is coming up and he still has no clue what the golden egg is about…"

"Scratch that." Serena shot up to find a soaking wet Harry, nearly collapsing under the large pile of books in his arms.

"Harry!" she exclaimed, jumping out of Fred's arms. "Wh-"

"Merpeople," Harry stuttered. "Serena, are there Merpeople in Black Lake?"

"Possibly," Serena replied after a pause. "What's going on?"

"The egg, it sang to me," Harry blurted out quickly. Fred and Serena glanced uncertainly at each other. "No, I mean, the hint was in the egg. I held it underwater and it sang to me."

"What did it say?" Serena led Harry to the couch where Fred sat.

"Come seek us where our voices sound. We cannot sing above the ground. An hour long you'll have to look to recover what we took." Harry recited. Serena's eyes narrowed in confusion.

"Okay, come seek us where our voices sound," she slowly repeated. "Obviously the Black Lake, because they said 'we cannot sing above the ground'. Which means they're underwater, like your clue."

"An hour long you'll have to look," Harry groaned.

"That could pose a few problems," Serena winced.

"A few problems?!" Harry spat back. "Serena, when was the last time you held your breath underwater for an hour?"

"Okay, okay, sorry!" Serena held up palm to silence him. "Listen, we'll figure this out. You, Hermione, Ron and I; we'll get through it together." She reached over and squeezed Harry's hand. "Okay?"

"Kay," Harry muttered. Serena noticed Fred was abnormally silent. She released Harry's hand and turned to the redhead. He was staring off into the fireplace, as though his mind had gone blank.

"Are you alright?" she asked him softly. He nodded and turned back around to face them. Serena leaned her blonde head back against his chest and looked at Harry uncertainly. "Really though, Harry. We'll do this together. Just like the old days." Harry's green eyes narrowed, but before he could say anything, someone interrupted.

"Figure what out?" The group looked up to find Ron and Hermione in the doorway.

"Just how he's going to stay underwater for an hour," Serena replied casually.

"WHAT?!" Hermione screeched. Serena let out a groan and closed her eyes. "We have to get to the library! We have to start planning, the task is tomorrow-" Suddenly Mad-Eye Moody walked into the room and cleared his throat.

"Sorry to interrupt this scholar session, but Professor McGonagall wishes to see you," he explained. "Not you, Potter, just Granger, Weasley, and Abney. Er, Ron Weasley," he added, glancing at Fred.

"But the second task is only hours away!" Serena cried.

"Exactly," Moody smirked. "Presumably Potter is well-prepared and ready for the challenge. He could probably do with a good night's sleep." Serena, Ron, and Hermione all slowly walked out of the common room. Serena glanced back at Fred.

"Night," she mouthed. He smiled back.

"Sleep tight," he whispered. She kissed her fingertips and blew it to him, giggling as he caught his heart and stumbled backwards, as though overcome with emotion. Waving one last time, she hurried to catch up with her friends.

"What d'you suppose this is about?" Ron questioned.

"I dunno," Serena replied after a moment. "But I'm not sure if I like it."


End file.
